EP2034099B1

EP2034099B1 - Module for a modular roof

Info

Publication number: EP2034099B1
Application number: EP08015591.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Peter John Delahunty; Paul Francis Hughes
Original assignee: Tata Steel UK Ltd
Current assignee: Tata Steel UK Ltd
Priority date: 2007-09-05
Filing date: 2008-09-04
Publication date: 2014-07-16
Anticipated expiration: 2028-09-04
Also published as: PL2034099T3; SI2034099T1; HRP20140857T1; DK2034099T3; EP2034099A3; EP2034099A2

Description

The invention concerns a module for a modular roof.
Generally for traditional roof structures, either timber trusses spanning from eaves to eaves, or purlins spanning from cross wall to cross wall are adopted. These roof structures are constructed on site and take a considerable time to install and result in long periods of exposed work at height. This means that a lot of extra safety measures have to be taken which will mean additional costs. Moreover, the work is dependent on weather conditions, which may result in considerable delays with again extra costs. Furthermore, with these known roof structures the construction thereof can only be commenced with after the building structure has been erected.
EP 1630313 discloses a module for a modular roof according to the preamble of claim 1.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide modules for a modular roof system which can be pre-manufactured.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a module for a modular roof that can be manufactured quickly and at low costs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a module for a modular roof which has at least part of its roof covering installed prior to the modules installation at roof level.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide modules for a modular roof with means for a weatherproof joint between the modules.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide modules for a modular roof which are provided with means to attach an eaves beam to the module.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a module for a modular roof system that is suitable for traditional roof covering materials.
One or more of these objects are achieved by providing a module for a modular roof according to claim 1. Such a module can easily be pre-manufactured at low costs especially when the dimensions of the different components can be standardized. In the residential building sector, especially with the larger projects, this will generally be possible.
By providing that the modules are dimensioned such that the supporting members of the modules are supported at least partly by the inner walls or structure of the building these modules do not have to be self-supporting constructions over the whole span from eaves to eaves. Consequently, these modules can be far lighter than traditional spanning roof constructions, however without any concession to the robustness or stability of the construction. Moreover, if according to a further aspect of the invention cold rolled steel is used for the modules low weight with high strength can easily be combined.
According to a further aspect of the invention it is provided that the supporting members and the purlins are made of steel and that the rafters are timber rafters. With these features the steel of the module is combined with a more traditional construction material, that provides flexibility of construction, which would not be possible when using steel rafters. By adopting timber rafters it is far easier to apply a traditional roof covering with for instance battens and tiles and it is also easier to make the necessary adjustments for all secondary components like fascias, soffits, rain water gutters and the like. This can also be done on site if need be, which with steel rafters is much more complicated and time consuming.
To give the modules sufficient rigidity at least up to the point that a module is secured to a building structure at least one cross brace member, which is connected between the two supporting frame members of a module. Such a cross brace member comprises for instance a latticed frame or a like construction. These cross brace members are preferably mounted in a vertical position and if need be in an inclined position and connect to top and bottom chord of the supporting members and/or to one or more of the stud members between top and bottom chord of the supporting members.
According to a further aspect of the invention the supporting members are provided with means to which the cross brace members can be attached and later removed. Preferably this means comprises support plates such that the distance between the supporting members can be varied within a certain range without the need of having to use a cross brace member with a different length, With this feature it is possible to use cross brace members of standard length and still have the possibility to adjust for certain deviations of the dimensions of a building structure from the given dimensions.
The modules according to the invention give the possibility to pre-manufacture these modules on the ground with all the advantages of ease and safety of working on the ground. This can be done at the building site but of course also in a workshop with the further advantage of independency of weather conditions. The modules can be manufactured before the building structure is finished or even erected, so that the roof can be installed directly after the building structure is ready for the installation of a roof. Consequently, the building may be weatherproofed much earlier in the construction programme allowing finishing trades to commence at an earlier time.
According to a further aspect of the invention a module comprises at least part of one side of a pitched roof stretching from the lower edge or the eaves to the ridge of the roof. With such modules at least two modules are needed to make a complete roof. However, in most cases more than one module will be needed for each side of a roof. The modules can differ in width if the internal structure or internal walls of the building are used to support the support members of the modules and these structures and walls are not spaced at equal distances.
According to a further aspect of the invention a module comprises at least part of two opposite sides of a pitched roof stretching from the lower edge or the eaves at one side to the lower edge or the eaves at the other side of the roof. With these modules a roof can be installed faster and with a small roof possibly comprising only one module. However, for the more common roofs in the residential building sector a number of these modules will be required to form a complete roof.
According to a further aspect of the invention it is provided that the bottom chord of at least one supporting member extends beyond the end of the top chord at the side of the supporting member where top and bottom chord enclose an acute angle. This feature gives the possibility to attach an eaves beam to the supporting members without the need to have the whole supporting member extend up to the desired position of the eaves beam. The advantage of this is that the construction build-up is reduced at caves, reducing material usage at eaves and also for the gable end wall of the building itself. The ends of the rafters are supported by the eaves beam attached to the support members.
Preferably the extending part of the bottom chord is provided with means for attaching an eaves beam. This comprises a support plate that at least partly follows the profile of the eaves beam allowing for an easy fixing of the eaves beam to the support plate and in the right position. With the right position is meant that the top side of the eaves beam is in the same plane with the top of the purlins. This is of course different if a roof is constructed with successive planes under an angle at a side of the roof.
According to a further aspect of the invention it is provided that the module is at least at one side provided with means for a weatherproof jointing with a successive module. One side of such a weatherproof joint is attached to a side of a module already in the factory. If larger sections of a roof consisting of a number of modules are prefabricated or if a complete roof is prefabricated the other side of the joint is already attached to a succesive module in the factory. Otherwise successive modules or roof sections are lifted on to the building structure before the other side of a joint is attached to the successive module or section.
The means for a weatherproof jointing of modules or sections preferably comprises a gutter attached at one side to the module. The gutter is provided at both sides of the roof with an attachment edge, which are to be used to attach the gutter to preferably a rafter of the module. Since these rafters are preferably timber rafters the edges can very easily be fixed to these rafters. Therefore, the jointing of such a gutter to a successive module or section can also be done rapidly at height. However, it is also possible to attach such a gutter to a steel purlin or to another steel part of a module.
According to another aspect of the invention the module is provided with a sarking and preferably also at least partly with a roof covering. The sarking and roof covering are preferably left open or left away at the side of a module or section where a side of the means for a weather proof jointing are still to be fixed to the module or section. Only a relatively narrow strip has to be free from roof covering to have sufficient space to complete the weatherproof jointing, which means that a roof can be completed quickly after the different modules or sections of a roof have been lifted on to a building.
A module or section can not only be provided with a sarking and a roof covering, but also at least partly with an insulation material, fascia, soffits and rain water goods. This means that a module or section can be pre-fabricated as a complete or almost complete part of a roof and that consequently only very little time is needed to work on the roof at height. This also means that the interior of a building can be made weatherproof shortly after the building has been erected and the work at the interior of the building can be started with almost immediately.
Following method is disclosed but does not form part of the invention: a method for assembling a module comprising the steps of choosing supporting members suitable for at least part of one face of a roof with the appropriate pitch and the appropriate span for the purpose, attaching at least one cross brace member between the supporting members, attaching two or more purlins to the top chords of the supporting members and attaching rafters in a transverse direction to the purlins. The method also comprises one or more of the steps of providing the module at least partly with a sarking and providing the module at least partly with a roof covering.
Following method is disclosed but does not form part of the invention: a method for assembling a modular roof comprising the steps of lifting and placing a pre-assembled roof or a number of pre-assembled roof sections, the roof or roof sections each comprising at least one module, in a predetermined location on a building structure, securing the module or modules to the building structure and finishing the roof. The method further comprising the steps of attaching the weatherproof joint attached to a module of a first roof section to a module of a successive roof section and the step of applying the sarking and/or the roof covering or completing the sarking and/or roof covering.
After the steps of lifting and placing the modules and/or roof sections in the right place on the building structure and performing all other relevant steps concerning jointing and finishing the sarking and roof covering a further step is to remove one or more of the cross brace members temporarily attached between the supporting frame members insofar as these are no longer required to provide the rigidity of the structure of the roof. The cross brace members that are removed from the roof structure can be used again in a next module.
The invention is further explained on hand of the example shown in the drawing in which:

fig.1 shows a perspective view of a module,
fig.2 shows a detail of the module with part of an eaves beam, and
fig.3 shows a cross-section through part of two adjacent modules with in between a weatherproof jointing.

In fig.1 a module 1 is shown comprising supporting members 2 at both sides of the module 1, the supporting members 2 having a bottom chord 3 and top chords 4, which are connected by stud members 5. The support members 2 are connected by a number of purlins 6 running in transverse direction to the support members 2. On top of the purlins 6 a number of rafters 7 are fixed. The support members 2, stud members 5 and purlins 6 are made from steel and more preferably from cold-rolled steel to provide a light weight and strong construction. The rafters 7 are timber rafters which allow to apply the sarking and roof covering in an easy manner and also very important which allow to make all kind of modifications in a fast and easy manner if need be.
To give module 1 sufficient rigidity during the construction, transport and the lifting of the module on a building structure cross brace members 8 with a lattice structure are provided for. After a module 1 is fixed on a building structure some of these cross brace members 8 will not be needed any longer for the rigidity of the construction and may be removed. These cross brace members 8 are attached to the support members 2 by means of support plates attached to the support members 2. These support plates allow for a certain range of adjustment, which not only helps to overcome tolerances in the building structure but can also be used to use a single size cross brace member for modules with different distances between support members 2.
The module according to fig.1 is a single module, which forms a roof section or might even be a complete roof for a small building. The module shown has two sides with the same pitch, but also modules of differing pitches would be possible and/or sides with different width and even with different heights. Another option is that the roof section according to fig.1 consist in fact of two modules of which the vertical sides abut against each other. Important with these modules is that the support members 2 are at least partly supported by the external and/or the internal walls of a building structure, therefore it could very well be necessary that modules of different width are used next to each other and/or opposite to each other.
Fig.2 shows a detail of a module 1 in which the lower chord 3 of the module 1 is extended with respect to the end of the top chord 4. At the free end of the bottom chord 3 a mounting profile 9 is fixed which is used to mount an eaves beam 10 to the module 1. The eaves beam 10 extends from the bottom chord 3 of a support member 2 at one side of the module 1 to the bottom chord 3 of the next or last support member 2 of the module 1. The mounting profile 9 follows at least partly the profile of the eaves beam 10 allowing for an easy mounting of the eaves beam in the right position. With this construction less material is needed than when also the upper chord is extended to the point where the eaves beam 10 should be located.
Fig.3 shows a cross-section of the upper part of two modules 1,1' abutting against each other, more in particular a cross-section at the location of two adjacent purlins 6. For clarity's sake the support members are not shown in the figure. Rafters 7 are mounted on top of the purlins 6 with steel brackets 11 which are attached to the purlins. The rafters 7 are fixed in brackets 11 with nails or screws. The rafters support a sarking comprising in this example a roof membrane 12 and battens 13. The roof sarking 12 is weather resistant vapour transmittent material. The sarking 12 and battens 13 are fixed to the rafters 7 with nails. The battens 13 are at a predetermined distance from each other corresponding with the type of roof covering 14 used, such as for instance tiles.
Between modules 1 and 1' a weatherproof jointing is applied comprising a jointing gutter 15, which is fixed to the rightmost rafter 7 of module 1. The jointing gutter 15 has a U-shape with flanged edges, the right flanged edge is fixed to the rightmost rafter 7 before the membrane 12 and battens 13 are mounted. The battens 13 extend over part of the jointing gutter 15 and the side of roof membrane 12 is lying in the joining gutter 15. A space is left between the end of the batten and the furthest edge of the gutter. The outer edge of the gutter has its outer edge slightly angle upward so that module 1' may be slid in adjacent to module 1 at high level. The end of batten 13 of module 1' is fixed on the leftmost rafter 7 leaving sufficient space to be able to allow the free flanged edge of jointing gutter 15 to rest on this leftmost rafter 7. This is done when two modules or roof sections are joined when lifted on a building structure. After the jointing gutter is fixed to the rafter the membranes from both modules are lapped into the gutter and roof covering is applied over the jointing gutter one or more metal tabs fixed to the rafter between the battens can be pressed down to ensure the sarking is now retained and dressed into the gutter. The end of the jointing gutter ends for instance in a rain-water gutter at the eaves beam. With this jointing gutter a weatherproof confection between the modules can be created. The joint can be created on either side of the module.

Claims

Module (1) for a modular roof comprising at least two supporting members (2), each supporting member (2) comprising at least one top chord (4) and at least one bottom chord (3), top (4) and bottom (3) chord enclosing an acute angle, and one or more stud members (5) connecting top (4) and bottom (3) chords, one or more purlins (6) attached to the top chords (4) of successive supporting members (1), wherein at least part of the components are made of steel, characterised in that a number of rafters (7) are fixed on top of the purlins (6) and are running transverse to said purlins (6).
Module (1) according to claim 1, wherein the supporting members (2) and the purlins (6) are made of steel and wherein the rafters (7) are timber rafters.
Module (1) according to claim 1, wherein at least one cross brace member (8) is provided to connect two supporting members (2) of a module (1).
Module (1) according to claim 3, wherein a cross brace member (8) comprises a latticed frame.
Module (1) according to claims 3-4, wherein the supporting members (2) are provided with means to which the cross brace members (8) can be temporarily attached.
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-5, wherein a module (1) comprises at least part of one side of a pitched roof stretching from the lower edge or the eaves to the ridge of the roof.
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-5, wherein a module (1) comprises at least part of two opposite sides of a pitched roof stretching from the lower edge or the eaves at one side to the lower edge or the eaves at the other side of the roof.
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-7, wherein the bottom chord (3) of at least one supporting member (2) extends beyond the end of the top chord (4) at the side of the supporting member (2) where top (4) and bottom (3) chord enclose an acute angle.
Module (1) according to claim 8, wherein the extending part of the bottom chord (3) is provided with means for attaching an eaves beam (10).
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-9, wherein the module (1) is at least at one side provided with means for a weatherproof jointing with a successive module (1).
Module (1) according to claim 10, wherein the means comprises a gutter (15) attached at one side to the module (1).
Module (1) according to claim 11, wherein the gutter (15) is provided at both sides with an attachment edge with one of these edges attached to a rafter (7) of the module (1).
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-12, wherein the module (1) is provided at least partly with a sarking (12).
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-13, wherein the module (1) is provided at least partly with a roof covering (14).
Module (1) according to one or more of claims 1-14, wherein the module (1) is provided at least partly with an insulation material.