GB2241275A

GB2241275A - Conservatory roofs

Info

Publication number: GB2241275A
Application number: GB9104096A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Burce John Horlock
Original assignee: HOMESTYLE Ltd
Current assignee: HOMESTYLE Ltd
Priority date: 1990-02-27
Filing date: 1991-02-27
Publication date: 1991-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2011-02-27
Also published as: GB9104096D0; GB2241275B; GB9004395D0

Abstract

A frame member for a conservatory roof which is constructed as a hollow box-section two-part plastic shells 12, 16 said shell being reinforced internally with one or more webs 13 which span the shell walls and which is/are so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as anchoring means for the one or more screw 17 means which, in use, fasten a glazing-sheet-end capping strip 18 to the frame of the conservatory roof. Seals 22, 23 have a tubular part contacting the glazing pane and legs to embrace the flanges 26, 27, having an undercut region between the two. A gutter for the conservatory may also be provided with the screw-accepting web within a closed compartment to allow the gutter to be unobtrusively mounted. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CONSERVATORY ROOFS Field of the Invention The invention relates to the construction of conservatory roofs.

Review of Art known to the Applicant Conservatories are an ever-increasingly familiar feature added to houses at the moment. The basic conservatory as such is, of course, old in concept. But modern means of constructing conservatories have combined with the tendency to spend on one 5 existing house, rather than moving, to fuel an unprecedented rise in the market for the design and installation of these structures.

The biggest and most widespread problem with conservatories is how to construct a sufficiently leak-proof roof. This problem is made worse in what is currently the most popular design, the so-called Victorian-style conservatory where the roof "spars" come together at one end of the roof "ridge" in a spider-style fan-like formation.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this fundamental problem.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention in one broad aspect, at least some of the frame members of a conservatory roof are constructed as hollow box-section two-part plastics shells and are reinforced internally with webs which span the shell walls and which are so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as anchoring means for the screws which, in use, fasten the glazing-sheetend capping strips to the frame.

Preferably the webs are made of wood, are inserted into place in their respective boxes as or after the box first parts are framed as initially U-section channels, and are retained in place by the subsequently applied second parts of the boxes.

In another broad aspect of the invention, a conservatory roof incorporates a gutter, formed generally as a U-shaped channel and secured in use to the external periphery of the roof edge, and acting to channel rainwater from the roof into one or more downspouts opening into the gutter base; the gutter being characterised by the feature that its roof-adjacent region is constructed as a hollow box-section two-part plastics shell and is reinforced internally with one or more webs which span the shell walls and which are so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as anchoring means for screws which, in use, fasten the gutter base to the conservatory.

Preferably the web is made of wood, is inserted into place in the gutter roof-adjacent-region box as or after the box first part is formed as an initially U-section channel, and is retained in place by the subsequently applied second part of the box.

Advantageously the roof-adjacent edge of the gutter projects upward to seat the lips of a seal on which a glazing-sheetend region bears.

In yet another broad aspect of the invention, a glazed conservatory roof is characterised by the feature that the glazing sheets seal against the roof frame members via resilient seals, each of which seals has two portions - a first, tubular, portion which is compressed as the sheet is screwed down on the seal, and a second, lipped, portion which seats on an upwardly projecting edge of the frame member.

Preferably, in such an arrangement, the transitional region between the tubular portion and the lipped portion of the seal is undercut along one or both sides of the seal.

Advantageously, in such an arrangement, the abutting sheet-ends of the glazing sheets are screwed down under a capping strip which spans the sheet-ends and whose opposite edges compress respective resilient seals against the sheet faces.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows in cross section one of the glazing-sheet-bearing spars of a conservatory roof.

Figure 2, drawn to an enlarged scale. is a cross section of one of the seals used in the glazing arrangement.

Figure 3 is a view, again in cross section, of the ridge of the conservatory roof.

Figure 4 is a similarly cross-sectional view of the conservatory gutter.

Figures 5 and 6 are view from inside the conservatory showing, respectively, the wall-remote end and the wall-abutting end of the conservatory.

Figures 7 and 8 are views taken this time from outside the conservatory and showing respectively the same two ends thereof; and Figures 9 and 10 are close-up views of end regions of the conservatory taken, respectively, from the wall-remote end and the wall-abutting end again.

Figure 11 shows in cross-section a wall mounting glazing-sheetbearing spar of a conservatory roof.

Figure 12 is a view, again in cross-section, of a hip of a conservatory roof.

Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view of a valley gutter of a conservatory roof.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment A conservatory roof frame member in the form of a spar is constructed as a hollow box-section two-part plastics shell 11 as shown in Figure 1. The main box 12 of the shell is a generally U-shaped elongate channel and is made first in (for example) glass fibre reinforced plastics - GRP - and is fully cured.

A wooden plank-like web 13 is then inserted into place so as to span the walls of the box 12 and rest on ledges 14 and 15 which form integral parts of the box.

A flat top plate 16, separately laid up in GRP, is then placed over the web 13 to form the second part of the two-part box shell 11 and retain the wooden web 13 in place within the shell once the plate 16 has been secured along each of its opposite edges to the box 12.

The effect is for the wooden web 13 to reinforce the box.

But the web also has another function. The screws 17 of an aluminium capping strip 18 can anchor themselves in the web 13 as shown. These screws secure the capping strip 18 to the web 13 and, as the screws are driven home, they cause the strip 18 to bear against the end regions of adjacent and - in this context - abutting glazing sheets 19 and 21 of the conservatory roof.

The glazing sheets 19 and 21 seal against the spar 11 via resilient seals 22 and 23. Each of these seals has two portions, as shown in Figure 2. A first, tubular, portion 24 which is compressed as the sheet 19, 21 is screwed down on the seal; and a second, lipped, portion 25 which seats on the respective upwardly projecting edges 26 and 27 (Figure 1) of the spar.

The transitional region between the tubular portion 24 and the lipped portion 25 of each of these seals is undercut, along both sides of the seal, as indicated by reference numeral 28 in Figure 2.

The opposite edges of the capping strip 18 are similarly although not in the geometrical sense - undercut to carry multiplelipped seals 29, 31 which extend along the entire length of the capping strip edges.

These seals 29 and 31 are compressed against the faces of the sheets 19 and 21 as the screws 17 fasten the capping strip 18 into place. At the same time, of course, the seals 22 and 23 are compressed to flatten the tubular portion 24 of each such seal and to seat its lipped portion 25 fully on the projecting edges 26 and 27 of the GRP wood-braced spar 11.

As Figure 3 shows, the ridge of the conservatory roof is constructed in an exactly analogus way. The same reference numerals - with the suffix A - have therefore been used for the components of Figure 3 and the reader will have no difficulty in interpreting that Figure with reference to Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows the gutter which runs around the entire external periphery of the roof edge when the conservatory is erected.

It is formed generally as a U-shaped channel, not unexpectedly, and - equally expectedly - it acts to channel rainwater from the roof into one or more downspouts (not shown) opening into the gutter base 33 at designed intervals.

The gutter is characterised by the feature that its roof-adjacent region is constructed, like the ridge and spars of the roof, as a hollow box-section two-part plastics shell; and is reinforced internally with a wooden web which spans the shell wails and which is so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as an anchoring means for screws which fasten the gutter base to the conservatory.

The roof-remote edge 34 of the conservatory projects upwards and presents an externally attractive facade as shown in the later Figures 7 and 8 of the drawings. Looking for the moment at Figure 4, however, it will be seen that the main box shell 35 of the gutter, which includes the base 33 and the roof-remote edge 34, is once again a generally U-shaped GRP shell into which a wooden web 36 has been inserted and where the web 36 has subsequently been retained in place by a plate 37, separately made, and then secured to the shell 35 to complete the assembly.

In the case of the gutter, the wooden web 36 fills the whole of the shell in its roof-adjacent region. Screws 39 can then fasten the gutter to an upright 41 of the conservatory frame and the projecting roof-adjacent upper edge 42 of the gutter can seat the lips of a seal like the seals 22 and 23 on which a glazing-sheet-end region bears.

Figures 5 to 10 show the finished conservatory embodying these principles. Apart from its unusually attractive overall appearance, it will be seen that the roof members - the ridge and spars, and the peripheral runs which link their extremities - are all finished as one initially integrally moulded U-section shell to which the wooden webs and second-box-part plates are added.

This, together with the sealing arrangements described above, maximises the leak-proof nature of the finished roof. Referring to figures 11, 12 and 13, further features of conservatory design embodying the present invention will be described. These design features may apply to conservatories or styles other than the Victorian style such as, for example, Edwardian style, pavillion style, Kew, modern or double hip combination style. The advantages of the present invention may be appreciated in these and other styles in addition to conservatories of the Victorian style.

Figure 11 illustrates a wall-mounting spar having a base plate 45 which may be screwed or otherwise fixed to an external wall of the building. It will be noted that the design of this spar is essentially equivalent to the design of the spar illustrated in figure 1. Notably, in this embodiment the capping strip 46 is shown to be integral with the base plate 45.

Figure 12 illustrates a hip member which is essentially similar to the spar illustrated in figure 1 but is pre-formed such as to obviate the need for ledges such as illustrated in the figure 1 embodiment. The shape of the hip member suits its role, providing good structural reinforcement.

Referring to figure 13, a valley gutter is thereshown, having a pair of webs 47, one web 47 extending along each side of the gutter. In use the sheet of glazing on one side of the valley gutter is fastened to the web 47 on that side and the glazing sheet on the other side of the gutter is fastened to the web on the corresponding side. Between the two webs 47 lying in the base of the gutter is a padding of foam 48 which assists in reduction of condensation problems.

Although the present invention is described with reference to certain preferred embodiments various alternative embodiments are possible and will be apparent to the skilled reader.

Claims

1. A frame member for a conservatory roof which is constructed as a hollow box-section two-part plastic shell, said shell being reinforced internally with one or more webs which span the shell walls and which is/are so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as anchoring means for the one or more screw means which, in use, fasten a glazing-sheet-end capping strip to the frame of the conservatory roof.

2. A frame member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the or each web is made of wood and is inserted into place within the shell as or after the box first parts are framed as initially new-section channels, and are retained in place by the subsequently applied second parts of the boxes.

3. A conservatory roof which comprises one or more frame members as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2.

4. A conservatory roof which incorporates a gutter, formed generally as a U-shaped channel and secured in use to the external periphery of the roof edge, and acting to channel rainwater from the roof into one or more down spouts opening into the gutter base; the gutter being characterised by the feature that its roof-adjacent region is constructed as a hollow box-section two-part plastic shell and is reinforced internally with one or more webs which span the shell walls and which are so positioned and dimensioned as to serve as anchoring means for screws which, in use, fasten the gutter base to the conservatory.

5. A conservatory roof as claimed in claim 4 wherein the or each web is made of wood and is inserted into place in the gutter roofadjacent-region box as or after the box first part is formed as an initially U-section channel, and is retained in place by the subsequently applied second part of the box.

6. A conservatory roof as claimed in claim 5 wherein the roofadjacent edge of the gutter projects upward to seat the lips of a seal on which a glazing-sheet-end region bares.

7. A glazed conservatory roof wherein the glazing sheets seal against the roof frame members via resilient seals, each of which seals has two portions - a first, tubular, portion which is compressed as the sheet is screwed down on the seal, and a second, left, portion which seats on an upwardly projecting edge of the frame member.

8. A glazed conservatory roof as claimed in claim 7 wherein the transitional region between the tubular portion and the lipped portion of the seal is undercut along one or both sides of the seal.

9. A glazed conservatory roof as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the abutting sheet-ends of the glazing sheets are screwed down under a cupping strip which spans the sheet-ends and whose opposite edges compress respective resilient seals against the sheet bases.