GB2585335A

GB2585335A - Decking/cladding board with support beam

Info

Publication number: GB2585335A
Application number: GB1902465.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Douglass Jerry
Original assignee: ELMDENE GROUP Ltd
Current assignee: ELMDENE GROUP Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-22
Filing date: 2019-02-22
Publication date: 2021-01-13
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-22
Also published as: GB2585335B; GB201902465D0

Abstract

The decking or cladding board 1, for use as a load bearing panel, comprises a metal support beam 8 with one or more walls 5, 6, 7, extending upwardly and a junction panel 4 extending over said walls. The junction panel comprises a plurality of perforations 9, 10, into which an elastomeric coating 3 partly extends and secures itself to the panel. The metal beam may be of extruded aluminium with a primer coating. The coating may comprise a relief on its surface. The coating may comprise polyurethane or isocyanates. The coating may also comprise fire-retardant or flame-retardant materials, such as aluminium trihydrate and magnesium hydroxide. The coating may comprise IR reflective pigments or microspheres. The upper and side surfaces of the junction panel may be covered by the elastomeric coating.

Description

Decking/Cladding Board With Support Beam

Field of the invention

The invention relates to decking/cladding boards with a support beam. These may include a soffit, a joist, an underdeck drainage cladding, and a decking board etc.

Background to the invention

The field of decking boards is a relatively crowded field of art. The developed art over the years has in part established that decking/cladding boards made partly or entirely of an elastomer can be particularly advantageous as these can be less prone to wear and tear and several prior art embodiments have provided a relatively soft surface which can be particularly comfortable to walk on whilst at the same time providing aesthetic advantages as being able to closely resemble natural products derived from wood, stone etc. Similarly, extruded aluminium profiles have themselves been developed over the years in a variety of forms. One of the advantages of aluminium extrusions is their relatively low weight and high structural integrity. Despite these thousands of prior art attempts drawbacks of the existing art still remain. In particular, the question of how to provide an improved board with better fire resistance, improved structural strength, and synergistic integration of materials is still in need of being addressed.

Summary of the invention

In a first broad independent aspect, the invention provides a decking or cladding board comprising a support beam of metal with one or more walls which, in use as a load-bearing decking board, extend upwardly and a junction panel extending over said walls; said junction panel further comprising a plurality of perforations; wherein said board further comprises an elastomeric coating disposed over said junction panel; said elastomeric coating extending at least partly through said perforations; whereby said elastomeric coating secures itself to said junction panel. This configuration is particularly advantageous in order to allow a relatively soft to the touch elastomeric coating to be is deployed in certain embodiments with improved fastening of the coating to the junction panel. Indeed, in certain embodiments, the elastomeric coating keys itself thought the perforations to avoid any requirement of employing separate fasteners such as screws or nuts and bolds to securely attach the coating to the junction panel (or substrate). This configuration also improves its fire resistance properties. In addition, it benefits from improved resistance to bending movements due the directional nature, in certain embodiments, of the junction panel and walls that have been provided. Significantly, it also has advantages in the manufacturing process since the perforations in the junction panel also allow any potential residual air to freely escape as the elastomer covers the junction panel of the support beam.

In a subsidiary aspect, the metal beam is of extruded aluminium which is coated by a primer at least over said junction panel. In certain embodiments, the application of the primer coat may reduce or entirely avoid the aluminium oxidising.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the board further comprises a base panel forming at least part of a drain. This configuration is particularly advantageous since it allows the decking or cladding board to also function as a drain. In certain embodiments this may be achieved by allowing a portion of the perforations to be freely exposed in order to allow water to pass through these perforations in order to thereafter be drained away.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating comprises a relief on its outer most surface. This configuration is particularly advantageous since it allows the decking board to often have an improved level of friction in order to avoid or at least minimise the risk of slipping when walking across decking boards of this kind.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating comprises polyurethane.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating comprises isocyanates which are selected from the group comprising: isophorone cycloaliphatics diisocyanates and hexamethylene diisocyanates. This is particularly advantageous in providing a hard wearing surface with the benefit of the structural strength achieved in combination with the support beam.

is In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating further comprises one or more fire retardant materials selected from the group comprising: aluminium trihydrates, treated and refined aluminium trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, ammonium polyphosphates, and boron complexes. This configuration is particularly advantageous in order to provide a board which can withstand fires.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating further comprises reactive flame retardants containing functional hydroxyls together with molecules selected from the group comprising magnesium hydroxide, calcite, diatomaceous earths, clays, talcs, various grades of calcium carbonates, barium sulphates, and silicas. This further combination provides further improvements with respect to retarding the spread of flames.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating comprises IR reflective pigments. This configuration is also particularly advantageous in order to reduce the potential temperature to the touch and thereby also minimising the risk of combustion as the surface temperature of the decking board is also thereby reduced.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the elastomeric coating comprises one or more microspheres. This further improves the reflective properties of the board.

In a further subsidiary aspect, the junction panel incorporates an upper, in use, surface and side surface; wherein both the upper and side surfaces are covered by the elastomeric coating. This configuration is particularly advantageous as it allows neighbouring boards to be provided in close proximity with the inherent flexibility in the elastomer compensating for any variation in the consistency of the width of the board.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1 shows an end view of a decking board with a support beam and an elastomeric coating.

Figure 2 shows another perspective view of the top surface of a decking board.

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the underside of the decking board.

Figure 4 shows a part cross-sectional view of a decking board.

Detailed description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a decking board generally referenced 1 with a support beam generally reference 2 on which an elastomeric coating 3 has been provided. The support beam comprises at least a junction panel 4 which acts as the primary substrate onto which the elastomeric coating is secured. The junction panel may either be formed of a simple piece or of several distinct sections. The support beam comprises in addition a number of walls such as walls 5, 6 and 7 which extend downwards from the junction panel in a direction substantially perpendicular to the primary surface of the junction panel. A number of cross-beams such as cross-beam 8 extends through the substantially vertical walls and act to further reinforce the support beam. In addition, a number of perforations such as perforations 9 and 10 are provided through the junction panel. These are through holes in this embodiment which allows the elastomer to flow through the perforation and flow sideways thereafter to provide an integral key for fastening the elastomeric coating to the support beam.

The invention envisages particular advantageous embodiments where the perforations are formed as elongate troughs. These may extend in the Length of the board or may advantageously be aligned in disparate directions to improve the fastening of the elastomer to the junction panel. In a further advantageous embodiment, the perforations are formed as geometric shapes (such as triangular, trapezoidal, pentagonal, and hexagonal shapes) with a plurality of sides in order to further improve the keying of the elastomer to the support beam. In a further embodiment, the perforations are circular.

In Figure 2, the board incorporates an elastomeric coating which has a relief which takes the form of a wood grain.

Figure 3 shows the elongate nature of the perforations 9 and 10 and their resulting overflow portions 11 and 12 which extend virtually in parallel along the length of the decking board.

In figure 4, the decking board 13 is presented where an elastomeric coating 14 is fastened to a support beam 15. The upper surface 16 of the elastomeric coating incorporates a relief of the kind shown in previous embodiments. Extending through the height of the support beam 15 are provided a plurality of perforations such as perforation 17 which may be cylindrical in shape and allow the flow of elastomer through the height of the support beam 15 and to expand in a region 18 located below the support beam. The protruding region 18 may be dome-shaped and integrally formed with the elastomeric coating 14 as shown by the hatching lines of the figure. Whilst this is not visible in the figures provided, the support beam may be of aluminium and may incorporate a primer which may be applied prior to the elastomeric coating. Advantageously, the primer may be applied to the support beam by first of all cleaning the beam, then abrading it, cleaning it once more and finally applying the primer coat before the aluminium oxidises.

Advantageously, the elastomeric coating comprises polyurethane. Preferably, the elastomeric coating comprises isocyanates which are selected from the group comprising: isophorone cycloaliphatics diisocyanates and hexamethylene diisocyanates. Furthermore, the elastomeric coating may comprise one or more fire retardant materials selected from the group comprising: aluminium trihydrates, treated and refined aluminium trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, ammonium polyphosphates, and boron complexes.

The elastomeric coating may optionally further comprise reactive flame retardants containing functional hydroxyls together with molecules selected from the group comprising magnesium hydroxide, calcite, diatomaceous earths, clays, talcs, various grades of calcium carbonates, barium sulphates, and silicas. Preferably, the elastomeric coating comprises IR reflective pigments.

The elastomeric coating also preferably comprises one or more microspheres. Finally, the junction panel incorporates an upper, in-use surface and side surface wherein both the upper and side surfaces are covered by the elastomeric coating.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A decking or cladding board comprising a support beam of metal with one or more walls which, in use as a load bearing decking board, extend upwardly and a junction panel extending over said walls; said junction panel further comprising a plurality of perforations; wherein said board further comprises an elastomeric coating disposed over said junction panel; said elastomeric coating extending at least partly through said perforations; whereby said elastomeric coating secures itself to said junction panel.
2. A board according to claim 1, wherein said metal beam is of extruded aluminium which is coated by a primer at least over said junction panel.
3. A board according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said board further comprises a base panel forming at least part of a drain.
4. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating comprises a relief on its outermost surface.
5. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating comprises polyurethane.
6. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating comprises isocyanates which are selected from the group comprising: isophorone cycloaliphatics diisocyanates and hexamethylene diisocyanates.
7. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating further comprises one or more fire retardant materials selected from the group comprising: aluminium trihydrates, treated and refined aluminium trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, ammonium polyphosphates, and boron complexes.
8. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating further comprises reactive flame retardants containing functional hydroxyls together with molecules selected from the group comprising magnesium hydroxide, calcite, diatomaceous earths, clays, talcs, various grades of calcium carbonates, barium sulphates, and silicas
9. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating comprises IR reflective pigments.
10. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elastomeric coating comprises one or more microspheres.
11. A board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said junction panel incorporates an upper, in use, surface and side surface; wherein both said upper and side surfaces are covered by said elastomeric coating.