IE914039A1 - A gasket - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a glazing gasket for use in a pre-fabricated roof assembly.

Our co-pending Irish Patent Application No. 2747/91, whose contents are hereby incorporated into this Specification, describes a roof assembly of the kind including a roof frame member which is overlapped on opposite longitudinal edges by the respective edges of a pair of glazing panels, the panels being held in place by an elongate fixing member which overlaps the said edges of the panels on the opposite side thereof to the frame member, and the fixing member being secured to the frame member by a series of screws disposed spaced apart along the length of the fixing member, the screws extending through respective apertures in the fixing member and passing to the frame member via a gap between the adjacent edges of the panel units. - 3 A potential disadvantage of the prior assemb ly is that any water which may enter the assembly can soak into the rafter in the gap between the glazing panels.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a roof assembly of the aforesaid kind, including an elon gate gasket located along the frame member and extending in the width direction thereof under the edges of the glazing panels and across the gap between them, the gasket having a channel with raised edges extending along the length of the gasket in the gap between the panel edges with the said screws passing through this channel.

The invention also provides an elongate glaz ing gasket for use in such a roof assembly, the gasket having a substantially flat lower surface for locating the gasket along a roof frame member and an upper surface having a channel with raised edges extending along the length of the gasket.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a part of a pre-fabricated roof assembly incorporating a glazing gasket according to the embodiment; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the assembly of Figure 1 of the drawings; and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the em bodiment of glazing gasket. - 4 Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a pre-fabricated roof assembly includes a roof frame member in the form of a wooden rafter 10 which is overlapped on its opposite longitudinal edges 11 by the respective edges 12 of a pair of triple glazing panels 13. The panels 13 are held firmly in place by an elongate fixing member 14 (hereinafter called a capping member) which overlaps the edges 12 of the panels 13 on the opposite side thereof to the rafter 10.

The capping member 14 itself is secured to the rafter 10 by a series of screws 15 disposed spaced apart along the length of the capping member 14, the screws extending through respective apertures in the capping member 14 and passing to the rafter 10, into which they are screwed, via the gap between the adjacent edges 12 of the panel 13. Thus the edges 12 of the panels 13 are clamped between the rafter 10 and the capping member 14.

The capping member 14 is made for example from extruded aluminium, and is of shallow generally V-shaped cross section. Each longitudinal edge of the member 14 has a recess 17 for accommodating a respective weather seal 18 which seals against the respective glazing panel 13.

It is to be understood that the capping member 14 is highly elongated in a direction out of the plane of Figure 1, and that Figure 1 shows only a small part of the roof assembly. The full assembly will have - 5 a plurality of rafters with a plurality of glazing panels each spanning two rafters, and each rafter will support and have fixed thereto by their edges in the manner shown a pair of glazing panels.

To the extent so far described the construction of roof assembly shown in Figure 1 is the same as described in relation to our co-pending Irish Patent Application No. 2747/91, and further details can be found therein.

However, the present construction differs from that shown in Irish Patent Application No. 2747/91 in that the two seals 19 (see Figure 2 of Irish Patent Application No. 2747/91) provided along the opposite edges of the rafter 10 are replaced by a single gasket according to the embodiment of the invention.

The gasket 20, whose cross-section is shown in Figure 2 and which is elongated in the direction normal to the plane of Figures 1 and 3, has a substantially flat lower surface 21 which extends across the full width of the upper surface of the rafter 10, not only under the edges 12 of the panels 13, but also across the gap between them.

The upper surface 22 of the gasket 20 has a raised channel 23 extending centrally along the length of the gasket between the panels 13, and the screws 15 pierce this channel. This has the advantage that any water which is travelling down the gasket 20 does not seep into the rafter 10 around the area where the screws - 6 15 pierce the gasket, as would be the case if the gasket 20 were flat in the central region between the panels 13. The channel 23 also provides a place to drive nails, staples or tacks for initially positioning the gasket on the rafter. The channel 23 could be enlarged to stop opposite sheets of glazing material contacting the fixing screw 19 thereby avoiding damage to the glazing material.

The upper surface 22 of the gasket has on 10 each side of the channel 23 a plurality of upstanding fingers 24, 25 extending longitudinally of the gasket for sealing against the underside of the panels 13. The fingers 24 are inclined away from the channel 23 and the fingers 25 are inclined towards the channel 23. Each finger makes an angle of about 60 degrees with the surface 22. Downwardly directed fingers 26 along the outer longitudinal edges of the gasket 20 serve to initially locate the gasket 20 on the rafter 10 in the lateral direction.

The gasket 20 is made of EPDM rubber with a known silicone treatment to avoid any reaction with polycarbonate, acrylic or glass roofing materials. It is unaffected by UV light and is particularly useful in combination with the fixing method described in above-mentioned Irish Patent Application No. 2747/91 to provide a high quality maintenance-free roof capping system.

Claims (4)

1. A roof assembly of the kind referred to, including an elongate gasket located along the frame member and extending in the width direction thereof

2. 5 under the edge of the glazing panels and across the gap between them, the gasket having a channel with raised edges extending along the length of the gasket in the gap between the panel edges with the said screws passing through this channel. 10 2. An elongate glazing gasket for use in a roof assembly as claimed in claim 1, the gasket having a substantially flat lower surface and an upper surface having a channel with raised edges extending along the length of the gasket. 15 3. A gasket as claimed in claim 2, further including downwardly directed fingers extending along the outer longitudinal edges of the lower surface of the gasket for locating the gasket along a roof frame member in the lateral direction. 20 4. A gasket as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the upper surface of the gasket has a plurality of upstanding fingers extending along the length thereof for sealing against the underside of the panels. 5. A gasket as claimed in claim 4, wherein the 25 fingers include at least one finger inclined towards the channel and at least one finger inclined away from the channel.

3. 6. A gasket as claimed in claim 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the gasket is made from EPDM rubber.

4. 7. A glazing gasket substantially as described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.