GB2339439A

GB2339439A - Water resistant roof assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2339439A
Application number: GB9815184A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Christopher Allport; Susan Margaret Allport; Mark Charles Allport; Philip Brian Allport; Hannah Susan Allport
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-07-13
Filing date: 1998-07-13
Publication date: 2000-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 2018-07-13
Also published as: GB2339439B; GB9815184D0

Description

2339439 A ROOF ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a roof assembly, for

example for a pre- fabricated building. 5 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a known roof assembly for a pre-fabricated building, as described, for example, with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of United Kingdom Patent Specification GE2258282. In the known assembly the adjacent edges 12 of a pair of panels 13, for example triple glazing panels, overlap opposite longitudinal edges 11 of an elongate wooden beam 10 and are held in place there by an elongate bridging member 14 of substantially constant cross section which overlaps the edges 12 of the panels 13 on the opposite side thereof to the beam 10. The bridging member 14 is fixed to the beam 10 by a series of screws 15 which extend through a gap 19 between the adjacent edges 12 of the panels 13 so that the bridging member exerts pressure on the edges of the panels via gaskets is.

A problem with the known construction is that, due to the exposure of the heads of the screws 151 the construction is both unsightly and could allow rainwater to seep down the screws 15 to the wooden beam 10.

2 it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved roof assembly in which this problem is mitigated.

According to the present invention there is provided a roof assembly in which the adjacent edges of a pair of panels overlap opposite longitudinal edges of an elongate beam member and are there held in place by an elongate bridging member which overlaps such edges on the opposite side thereof to the beam member, the bridging member being fixed to the beam member by a plurality of fixing means which extend through a gap between the adjacent edges of the panels so that the bridging member exerts pressure on the edges of the pan els, wherein the assembly includes a plurality of mounting blocks disposed spaced apart along the length of the bridging member and the fixing means pass from respective mounting blocks through the bridging member to the beam member, and wherein the assembly further comprises an elongate cover member which engages over the mounting blocks and has sidewalls which extend on either side of the mounting blocks towards the bridging member.

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

Fig. 1, described above, is a perspective -view of a part of a known roof assembly according to the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of an embodiment of roof assembly according to the invent-ion; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the mounting blocks of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the decorative cover member of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 2 the same reference numerals are used to is indicate the same or similar features as those of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 4, since the construction there shown is largely the same as that described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of United Kingdom Patent specification GB2258282, only the differences from that known construction will be described. If desired, further details of the known roof assembly can be found in United Kingdom Patent Specification GB22SS282.

in the present embodiment the bridging member 14 comprises, as in Fig- 1, a raised, flat, substantially horizontal centre section 20 and a pair of flank sections 22 which are inclined outwardly and downwardly 4 on opposite sides of the centre section so as to present a shallow inverted generally V-shaped external profile. A plurality of substantially identical mounting blocks 24, each having a waisted portion 25, are disposed spaced apart along the length of the bridging member at positions corresponding to the heads of the screws 15 in Fig. 1 (it will appreciated that only one such block 24 is visible in the crosssectional view of Fig. 2). The profile of the base 26 of each block 24, in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the bridging member 14, is complementary to the external profile of the bridging member such that the mounting blocks are self-aligning along the bridging member.

Each mounting block 24 has a central bore 28 which is in register with a respective hole 30 in the bridging member 14. A respective screw 15 passes through the bore 28, the hole 30 and the gap 19 and is screwed into the beam 10. The head 32 of the screw 15 bears against the top of the block 24 to maintain the pressure of the bridging member 14 on the edges of the panels 13.

Thus, as compared to Fig. 1 in which the heads 32 of the screws 15 bear directly an the bridging member 14, the heads 32 of the screws 15 in this case bear on the tops of the blocks 24 which in turn bear on the bridging member.

The assembly further includes an elongate decorative covet member 34 of substantially constant crosssection. Like the bridging member 14, the cover member 34 may be manufactured by the extrusion of aluminium or other lightweight metal or metal alloy or plastics material or materials etc. The cover member 34 has a waisted portion 36 and a pair of sidewalls 38, and at and below the waisted portion 36 the cover member 34 has an internal profile substantially complementary to the external profile of the mounting blocks 24.

The material of the cover member 34 is relatively thin so that the sidewalls 38 may be resiliently spread apart sufficiently to allow the cover member 34 to snap-engage over the aligned mounting blocks 24 such that the waisted portion 36 of the cover member engages in the waisted portions 25 of the blocks 24. When so engaged, as seen in Fig. 2, the sidewalls 38 of the cover member 34 extend down closely on either side of the mounting blocks 24 towards and substantially into contact with the flank sections 22 of the bridging member.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which may be modified or varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

6

Claims

1. A roof assembly in which the adjacent edges of a pair of panels overlap opposite longitudinal edges of an elongate beam member and are there held in place by an elongate bridging member which overlaps such edges on the opposite side thereof to the beam member, the bridging member being fixed to the beam member by a plurality of fixing means which extend through a gap between the adjacent edges of the panels so that the bridging member exerts pressure on the edges of the panels, wherein the assembly includes a plurality of mounting blocks disposed spaced apart along the length of the bridging member and the fixing means pass from respective mounting blocks through the bridging member to the beam member, and wherein the assembly further comprises an elongate cover member which engages over the mounting blocks and has sidewalls which extend on either side of the mounting blocks towards the bridging member.

A roof assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cover member and each of the mounting blocks have complementary waisted portions such that the cover member can be resiliently snap-engaged onto the mounting blocks.

7 3. A roof assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the profile of the base of.each mounting block, in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis of the bridging member, is substantially complementary to the external profile of the bridging member such that the mounting blocks are selfaligning along the bridging member to r eceive the cover member.

4. A roof assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the bridging member has a raised centre section through which the fixing means pass and a pair of flank sections which are inclined outwardly and downwardly on opposite sides of the centre section, and wherein the sidewalls of the cover member extend substantially to the flanks of the bridging member.

5. A roof assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.