GB2439438A

GB2439438A - Bird access prevention device

Info

Publication number: GB2439438A
Application number: GB0711696A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Jones
Original assignee: Jones & Son Pest Control Suppl
Current assignee: Jones & Son Pest Control Suppl
Priority date: 2005-12-02
Filing date: 2005-12-02
Publication date: 2007-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2025-12-02
Also published as: GB0711696D0; GB2439438B; GB2432771A; GB2432771B; GB0524615D0

Abstract

A bird access prevention device 10, and a method of mounting it to the ridge 26 of a pitched roof. The device comprises an adaptor element 20 comprising a flat upper surface 22 and a lower surface (24, fig 3) of recessed cross-section which is adhesively attached to the roof ridge. The device further comprises a flat strip of material 12 having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces that is attached adhesively by its lower surface (14, fig 3) to the said flat upper surface of the adaptor element. The upper surface (18, fig 4) of the flat strip of material having a plurality tines 15 projecting upwardly therefrom at different angles.

Description

( 2439438

BIRD ACCESS PREVENTION DEVICES

DESCRIPTION

Technical Field

This invention relates to bird access prevention devices and, in particular, to such devices for attachment to a roof -especially the ridge of a roof.

Background Art

Bird access prevention (or bird deterrent) devices are known, e.g. from EP-0300441, EP-0300936, EP-0340108, EP-05 15262, EP-0792099, GB-2402861 and GB-2400010.

Essentially such devices comprise a support member (usually a flat strip of material) having generally parallel upper and lower planar surfaces, which is provided with tines projecting upwardly at different angles from the upper surface. In use, such bird access prevention devices are attached adhesively by their flat lower surfaces to window ledges and other flat horizontal surfaces to prevent birds from alighting thereon.

Where such bird access prevention devices are to be used to prevent birds alighting on the angle ridge of a pitched roof, past attempts to adhere a flat strip to the apex of the ridge of the roof have failed -or have been insufficiently secure. A usual method of overcoming this problem has been to secure a pair of bird access prevention devices, one to each side of the angle ridge's apex, by securing the devices' flat strips on to the opposite sloping planes provided by the roof tiies adjacent to that ridge apex. This naturally doubles the number of devices needed and hence the expense of effective bird access prevention. It is therefore considered desirable to provide a bird access prevention device that can reduce this expense -and can be used both for the angle ridge of a pitched roof or for a convexly curved-ridge of a pitched roof. (

Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a bird access prevention device comprising a linearly extending support member having upper and lower surfaces, a plurality of tines projecting upwardly at different angles from the device's upper surface, the device's lower surface having a cross-section that is recessed, e.g. curved concavely or provided with an inverted-V-channel, to facilitate adhesive adherence of the support member to the ridge of a pitched roof.

The linear support member may be molded as a one-piece molding. Alternatively, the linear support member may comprise a first component in the form of a flat strip of material having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces and a second component -serving as an adaptor -having a generally planar upper surface for adhesive bonding to the generally planar lower surface of the first component of the linear support member, the adaptor's lower surface being recessed, e.g. having said concavely curved cross-section or provided with a said inverted-V-channel The two components of the linear support member may be adhesively connected to one another at the factory or at a depot or storage facility. Alternatively the said two components may be secured to one another on the site where the pitched roof is located. For such an on-site connection, the adaptor may be first adhered to the apex of the angle ridge or to the convexly curved ridge of the roof and the generally flat strip may then be adhered on to the upper planar surface of the adaptor.

It will be appreciated that such a two-component linear support member allows for minimum production and storage costs since the first component can be made as a standard product for general flat ledge use and, where a need arises, can be readily modified for the angled or the convexly curved ridge of a roof by simply adhering it to the adaptor.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of mounting a bird access prevention device to the ridge of a pitched roof, comprising the steps of ( attaching to the ridge an adaptor element comprising a flat upper surface and a lower surface of recessed, e.g. concave or inverted-V-channel, cross-section, and then attaching to the said flat upper surface of the adaptor element the lower generally planar surface of a bird access prevention device from the upper surface of which tines project upwardly at different angles.

Brief Description of the Drawings

By way of example embodiments of this invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is a plan view of part of a known bird access prevention device for use on a flat surface; Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a pitched roof provided with a bird access protection device according to a first embodiment of this invention; Figure 3 is an end view of the bird access prevention device shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side view of the bird access prevention device shown in Figure 2; Figure 5 is an end view of an alternative bird access prevention device according to a second embodiment of this invention; Figure 6 is a side view of the bird access prevention device shown in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 and illustrating a third embodiment of this invention; Figure 8 is an end view similar to that of Figure 3 but of the embodiment shown in Figure 7; and Figure 9 is an end view similar to that of Figure 5 but of a fourth embodiment of this invention.

Description of Illustrated Embodiment

The bird access prevention device 10 shown in Fig I comprises a generally flat strip 12 of plastics material with a substantially planar bottom surface l4and a plurality of metal tines 15 projecting upwardly of the strip's upper surface at different angles and extending outwards from promontories 16 molded integrally with the strips' generally planar upper surface 18 and serving as mounts for the tines. The strip 12 may have a ( somewhat sinuous form substantially as shown in Fig 1 to allow for visual overlap of the diverging tines when the device is viewed from one end (such overlap' in effect increasing the angle of prevention provided by the tines 15). A bird access prevention device of this kind is known from UK Patent Pubin. No. 2400010 As indicated in Figs 1 to 4, this known kind of bird access prevention device 10 forms a first component of a bird access prevention device embodying this invention for which purpose it is combined with a second component 20. This second component 20 serves as an adaptor and has a generally planar upper surface 22 for adhesive bonding to the generally planar lower surface 14 of the first component 12. The adaptor's lower surface 24 has a cross-section that is curved concavely to facilitate adhesive adherence of the two-component linear support member 25 (formed of components 12 and 20) to the angle ridge of a pitched roof or to the convexly curved ridge 26 of a pitched roof.

In another embodiment of this invention the bird access prevention device 10 of Fig I forms a first component 12 of a bird access prevention device of which the second component 40 (see Fig 7) serves as an adaptor for bonding the two-component structure to the angle ridge 46 of a pitched roof or to a convexly curved ridge of a pitched roof.

The adaptor 40 has a generally planar upper surface 42 for adhesive bonding to the generally planar lower surface 14 of the first component 12. The adaptor's lower surface 44 has a recessed cross-section of generally triangular (or inverted-V-channel) form to facilitate adhesive adherence of that surface 44 to the angular top ridge 46 of an angle pitch roof.

It will be appreciated that, with the embodiment described above with reference to Figs I to 4, the two components 12 and 20 of the linear support member are adhesively connected to one another on the site where the pitched roof is located. For such an on-site connection, the adaptor 20 or a single line of adaptors 20 is first adhered to the angle ridge or to the convexly curved ridge 26 of the roof and the strip 12 or a line of strips 12 of the bird access prevention device(s) is then adhered on to the upper planar surface 22 of the adaptor(s) 20. Likewise, for the embodiment of Figs 7 and 8, it will ( be apparent that the two components 12,40 are adhesively connected to one another on the site where the pitched roof 46 is located. For this, the adaptor 40 (or a single line of adaptors 40) is first adhered to the apex of the angle ridge 46 or to the convexly curved ridge -the adhesive filling any cavities beneath the adaptor's recess -and the strip 12 (or a line of strips 12) is then adhered onto the upper planar surface 42 of the adaptor(s) 40.

It will be appreciated that two-component arrangement 12,20 of Figs 1-4 or 12,40 of Figs 7 and 8 allows for minimum production and storage costs since the first component 10 can be made as a standard product for application onto a generally flat surface and, where a need arises, can be modified for application onto an angle ridge 46 or onto a convexly curved ridge 26 of a roof by simply adhering the standard component 10 onto a component such as adaptor 20 or 40.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that embodiments of this invention can provide a method of mounting a bird access prevention device to either an angle ridge of a roof or to the convexly curved ridge of roof, wherein an adaptor element is attached to the ridge -said adaptor element comprising a flat upper surface and a lower surface of recessed (e.g. concave or an inverted-V-channel) cross-section -and then attaching to the said flat upper surface of the adaptor element the lower generally planar surface of a generally flat bird access prevention device from the upper surface of which tines project upwardly at different angles.

However, this does not preclude the possibility of the two components being pre-secured to one another at the factory or at a depot or storage facility.

Moreover, it does not preclude the possibility of forming the bird access prevention device with its tines projecting from a linear support member that is a one-piece molding of plastics material. (

One form of such a bird access prevention device is that referenced 30 and illustrated in Figs 5 and 6 which show a one-piece linearly extending support member 32 having upper and lower surfaces 33 and 34. A plurality of metal tines 35 project upwardly at different angles from the device's upper surface 33, e.g. from promontories 36 molded integrally with the support member 32 and projecting upwardly from its upper surface 33. Apart from these promontories 36, this upper surface 33 is generally flat, but the lower surface 34 has a cross-section that is recessed, e.g. curved convexly, to facilitate adhesive adherence of the linearly extending, one-piece, support member 32 to either the angled ridge of a pitched roof or to the convexly curved ridge of a pitched roof.

Another form of such a bird access prevention device is that referenced 60 and illustrated in Fig 9 which shows a one-piece linearly extending support member 62 having upper and lower surfaces 53 and 54. A plurality of metal tines 55 project upwardly at different angles from the device's upper surface 53, e.g. from promontories 56 molded integrally with the support member 52 and projecting upwardly from its upper surface 53. Apart from these promontories 56, this upper surface 53 is generally flat, but the lower surface 54 has a recessed cross-section of generally triangular form to facilitate adhesive adherence of the linearly extending, one-piece, support member 52 to the angle ridge 46 of a pitched roof.

It will be appreciated that the tines 35 or 55 may alternatively be of plastics material and, in that case, molded integrally with the one-piece support member 32 or 52 -and the promontories 36 or 56 may be present or omitted.

Other modifications and embodiments of the invention, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art, are to be deemed within the ambit and scope of the invention, and the particular embodiment(s) hereinbefore described may be varied in construction and detail, e.g. interchanging (where appropriate or desired) different features of each, without departing from the scope of the patent monopoly hereby sought. (

Claims

CLAIMS

1. A method of mounting a bird access prevention device to the ridge of a pitched roof, comprising the steps of providing an adaptor element comprising a flat upper surface and a lower surface of recessed cross-section, attaching the adaptor element adhesively to the ridge by the adaptor element's recessed lower surface, and then attaching adhesively to the said flat upper surface of the adaptor element the lower generally planar surface of a bird access prevention device from the upper surface of which tines project upwardly at different angles.

2. A mounting method according to Claim 1 and susbtantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

3. A bird access prevention device for use in the method of Claim 1 or Claim 2, said device including a linearly extending support member which comprises a first component in the form of a flat strip of material having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces, and a second component -serving as an adaptor -having a generally planar upper surface for adhesive bonding to the generally planar lower surface of the first component of the linear support member, the adaptor's lower surface having a cross-section that is recessed to facilitate adhesive adherence of the support member to the ridge of a pitched roof, and the device's upper surface having a plurality of tines projecting upwardly at different angles therefrom.

4. A bird access prevention device according to Claim 3 wherein said cross-section is curved concavely 5. A bird access prevention device according to Claim 3 wherein said cross-section is provided by an inverted-V-channel, ( 6. A bird access prevention device as claimed in Claim 3 andlor for a method according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, said device being substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

7. A bird access prevention device (10) for mounting to the ridge (26;46) of a pitched roof, said device (10) comprising an adaptor element (20;40) comprising a flat upper surface (22;42) and a lower surface (24;44) of recessed cross-section by which the adaptor element (20;40) is to be adhesively attached to the ridge (26;46), and further comprising a generally flat strip of material having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces (12,14) that is attached adhesively by its lower surface (14) to the said flat upper surface (22;42) of the adaptor element (20;40), the generally planar upper surface (12) of the device (10) serving to mount a plurality tines (15) that project upwardly therefrom at different angles.

8. A method of mounting a bird access prevention device according to Claim 7 to the ridge (26;46) of a pitched roof, wherein said lower surface (24;44) of recessed cross-section is adhesively attached to the ridge (26;46), and said generally flat strip of material is attached adhesively by its said lower surface (14) to the said flat upper surface (22;42) of the adaptor element (20;40).

AMENDMENTS TO THE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN MADE AS FOLLOWS:-

CI

CLAIMS

1. A method of mounting a bird access prevention device to the ridge of a pitched roof, comprising the steps of providing an adaptor element comprising a flat upper surface and a lower surface of recessed cross-section, attaching the adaptor element adhesively to the ridge by the adaptor element's recessed lower surface, and then attaching adhesively to the said flat upper surface of the adaptor element the lower generally planar surface of a bird access prevention device from the upper surface of which tines project upwardly at different angles.

2. A mounting method according to Claim I and susbtantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

3. A bird access prevention device for use in the method of Claim 1 or Claim 2, said device including a linearly extending support member which comprises a first component in the form of a flat strip of material having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces, and a second component -serving as an adaptor -having a generally planar upper surface for adhesive bonding to the generally planar lower surface of the first component of the linear support member, the adaptor's Lower surface having a cross-section that is recessed to facilitate adhesive adherence of the support member to the ridge of a pitched roof, and the device's upper surface having a plurality of tines projecting upwardly at different angles therefrom.

4. A bird access prevention device according to Claim 3 wherein said cross-section is curved concavely 5. A bird access prevention device according to Claim 3 wherein said cross-section is provided by an inverted-V-channel, 6. A bird access prevention device as claimed in Claim 3 and/or for a method according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, said device being substantially as herein described with reference to and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

7. A bird access prevention device (10) for mounting to the ridge (26;46) of a pitched roof, said device (10) comprising an adaptor element (20;4.0) comprising a flat upper surface (22;42) and a lower surface (24;44) of recessed cross-section by which the adaptor element (20;4.0) is to be adhesively attached to the ridge (26;46), and further comprising a generally flat strip of material having generally parallel planar upper and lower surfaces (12,14) that is attached adhesively by its lower surface (14) to the said flat upper surface (22;42) of the,daPtor element (20;4enera111 $Jni1 upper surface (12) of the device (l0)AitalitY tines (15) that project upwardly 1ierefroiiht different angles.

8. A method of mounting a bird access prevention device according to Claim 7 to the ridge (26;46) of a pitched roof, wherein said lower surface (24;44) of recessed cross-section is adhesively attached to the ridge (26;46), and said generally flat strip of material is attached adhesively by its said lower surface (14) to the said flat upper surface (22;42) of the adaptor element (20;40). *0 * I.. * p* * S *4 *

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