GB2165869A - Batten assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A batten assembly for use in tile-cad construction comprises a set of battens 1 interconnected by semi-rigid PVC bendable straps 2 pinned to the battens so that the batten assembly can be either rolled up or folded into a slanted configuration with the connecting straps 2 straight but the battens in contact with one another. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Batten assembly The present invention relates to a batten assembly for use in tile-clad building structure.

It is known to hang tiles on regularly spaced battens on which claws of the tiles sit, the lateral spacing of the battens being intended to allow the claws of one tile to sit behind an edge of the batten while the claw end of that tile is overlapped by the unclawed end of a next overlapping tile. Normally these regularly spaced battens are placed on a layer of roofing felt and nailed to rafters.

Traditionally the taste of preparing a roof for tiling involves rolling out a length of roofing felt across the rafters to be tiled, usually in a horizontal direction, and then pinning battens on that roofing felt to hold the felt in place and to provide a mounting structure for the tiles. The tiles normally have a standard length between the clawed end and the unclawed end and this requires regular spacing of the battens, measured by the building worker who places the battens in position. Normally this requires at least two men, one of whom pins the battens in place and the other of whom supplies him with the individual battens for pinning.

According to the present invention I provide a batten assembly comprising a plurality of battens connected together by lateral spacing means which is both connected to adjacent battens and defines between them a spacing required to allow tiles to be hung on the battens, when in place, the spacing means being capable of allowing the battens to be moved towards and away from one another for rendering the batten assembly more compact and therefore portable.

Preferably the spacing means comprise at least one semi-rigid connecting strap pinned to each of the battens of the assembly. More preferably there are at least three such semi-rigid connecting straps to one assembly of battens.

Such connecting straps allow the battens to be rolled up in which case the connecting straps adopt a spiral configuration, or to be moved towards and away from one another by a scissor action of the connecting straps in a generally straight configuration. This provides for a flat assembly of the battens in a slanted array with adjacent battens in contact, and several of these flat assemblies can be stacked against one another.

Another possibility is for the spacing means to comprise at least one length of flexible webbing whereby pinning one end batten of an array allows the other battens to hang freely at the desired spacing. Such webbing allows the battens to be rolled up or to be brought together with concertina-style.

Alternatively, an assembly of battens may be connected together by spacer means comprising non-bendable spacer strips allowing scissor-action closing together of the battens but not rolling or concertina folding.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood the following description is given, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a batten assembly in accordance with the present invention, when laid out in its spaced configuration.

Figure 2 shows the assembly of Figure 1 when folded down for stacking purposes in a flat, slanted array of battens; Figure 3 is a view showing the array of battens of Figure 1 when rolled up; Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV IV of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a detail of Figure 4 when viewed along the direction of arrow V thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 shows an array of parallel battens 1 which are spaced by means of a set of semi-rigid straps 2 of polyvinyl chloride which are arranged to give a spacing p, between centres, of the battens of 4 inches (10.2cm). The battens have a length L of, in this case, 12 feet (3.66 m) but alternatively the length L could be 16 feet (4.88 m). These lengths are chosen in order to provide for an integral number of inter-rafter spacings to be spanned by a set of battens. The rafters are traditionally spaced at intervals of 16 inches (40.6 cm) or 24 inches (61 cm) and thus either a 12 foot (3.66 m) length or a 16 foot (4.88 m) length will enable the same set of battens to be used with either of the two standard inter-rafter spacing intervals. Other vaiues of L are possible.

Each connecting strip 2 (of which there are in this case, in all, four) is connected to each batten of the array by a pin 4 which is advantageously double-headed, for example by means of being driven through the connecting strip 2 and the batten 1 against an anvil surface which forms a head on the point end of the pin. This will result to some extent in a rather looser fit of the pin 4 in the batten 1 and strip 2 and will thereby lead to easier pivoting between the Figure 1 configuration and the Figure 2 configuration.

In Figure 2 the array of battens has been folded down into a slanted array with adjacent battens in contact so that the assembly is flat and has an absolute minimum width which is simply the sum of the widths w of the individual battens, the interbatten spacing p having been eliminated. Thus various such batten assemblies can be stacked one on another and can be readily transported to a building site.

Figure 3 shows an alternative configuration of the assembly of battens which is particularly convenient for carrying up to the surface to be tileclad. Starting from the Figure 2 configuration, the batten will be opened-out by scissor action into the Figure 1 configuration and then one of the end battens of the array will be rolled over onto the next, and the process continued until the whole assembly of battens is rolled up by virtue of the flexibility of the semi-rigid PVC connecting straps 2.

In use of the assembly, the first operation will be to roll out a length of roofing felt across the rafters, generally in a horizontal direction, and once the roofing felt is flat on the rafters a rolled-up assembly of battens such as shown in Figure 3 is laid on the felt and a few tacking pins placed through the battens into the rafters beneath the felt, in order to tack the felt and the array of battens loosely in place. By use of the batten assembly in accordance with the present invention, not only will the battens 1 thereby have been loosely pinned in place on the roofing felt, there will also be certainty that the spacing p between any two adjacent battens of the assembly will be the same as that between any othe two and also will be the desired distance for convenient hanging of tiles on the battens.The semi-rigid straps 2 are preferably positioned to the side of the assembly which is in contact with the roofing felt and helps to hold the roofing felt down, for example in gusty conditions.

Where the individual width of each batten is w, the extent to which the end of each semi-rigid PVC connecting strip 2 projects beyond the end batten of the array will be (p--.w), so that when the next assembly of battens to be placed above the first is brought into position in the Figure 1 rectangular array configuration, all that is necessary is for the adjacent ends of the collinear straps of the two arrays to be brough into contact with one another, in order that the spacing between the end batten of one array and the first batten of the next array should be the same as the spacing between any two adjacent battens of each array.

Preferably the corners 2a of the strap ends are rounded as shown in Figure 5 so that in the event of unsure handling of the assembly of battens there will be no risk of that corner rupturing the roofing felt.

As indicated above, the semi-rigid PVC straps 2 may be replaced by flexible webbing which will allow either rolling or concertina folding of the battens of an array, or alternatively the semi-rigid and therefore rollable straps 2 may be replaced by nonrollable slats which will allow folding down of the battens into the Figure 2 configuration but not rolling into the Figure 3 configuration or concertinafolding. If those slats have a thickness which is comparable with the thickness of the battens, it may be preferable for the individual battens to be notched so that in the Figure 1 configuration each of the slats is seated in the notch, in order to ensure that the thickness of the assembly of battens is substantially the same as the thickness of an individual batten and is not increased by the presence of the slat.

Claims (10)

1. A batten assembly comprising a plurality of battens connected together by lateral spacing means which is both connected to adjacent battens and defines between them a spacing required to allow tiles to be hung on the battens, when in place, the spacing means being capable of allowing the battens to be moved towards and away from one another for rendering the batten assembly more compact and therefore portable.

2. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the spacing means comprise bendable semi-rigid connecting straps.

3. An assembly according to claim 2, wherein there are at least three of said connecting straps.

4. An assembly according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the connecting straps are formed of polyvinyl chloride strip.

5. An assembly according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein each end of each connecting strap has rounded corners to prevent penetration of roofing felt.

6. An assembly according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein each connecting strap has an end which projects beyond the last batten of the array by a distance which is (p-2.w), where p is the spacing, between centres, of adjacent battens of the assembly when laid flat with the connecting strap substantially perpendicular to the battens, and w is the width of each batten.

7. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means comprise strips of flexible webbing allowing rolling and concertina-folding of the webbing to bring the battens towards and away from one another for ease of portability.

8. An assembly according to claim 1, wherein the spacing means comprise non-rollable slats which are pinned to the individual battens and allow scissor-folding of the assembly for ease of portability.

9. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the length of each batten is either 12 feet (3.66 m) or 16 feet (4.88 m), and the inter-batten spacing of any two adjacent battens of the assembly is 4 inches (10.2 cm) when the battens are laid out parallel to one another in a rectangular array.

10. A batten assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.