IE930790A1 - Ridge assembly for a pre-fabricated roof - Google Patents

Abstract

A ridge assembly for a pre-fabricated roof has an elongate ridge member (12) of substantially constant cross section which bridges the adjacent edges of a pair of glazing panels (10) which are upwardly inclined towards one another at the ridge. The ridge member has on its under surface a respective slot (18, 19) extending alongside each lateral edge and has on its top surface a central slot (14). A gasket (20, 21) is accommodated in each slot and seals against the respective glazing panel. A plurality of crest sections (13) are disposed end to end along the central slot with their bottom edges located in the slot.

Description

TTIDGEASSEMBLY FOR A PRE-FABRICATED ROOF This invention relates to a ridge assembly for a pre-fabricated roof.

According to the present invention there is provided a ridge assembly for a pre-fabricated roof, comprising an elongate ridge member of substantially constant cross section which bridges the adjacent edges of a pair of glazing panels which are upwardly inclined towards one another at the ridge, the ridge member having on its under surface a respective slot extending alongside each lateral edge and having on its top surface a central slot, the assembly further including a respective gasket accommodated in each edge slot which seals against the respective glazing panel, and a plurality of crest sections disposed end to end along the central slot with their bottom edges located in the slot.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a part of a pre-fabricated roof including a ridge assembly according to the embodiment, Figure 2 is a cross-section of the ridge assembly of figure 1, Figures 2A and 2B show the gaskets of figure 2 in their undistorted state, Figure 3 is a plan view of the ridge assembly of f igure 2, OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION UNDER SECTION 28 AND RULE 23 ..OF.

IKT rc5 * Ao Figure 4 is a perspective exploded view of one of the connecting pieces with an associated bridging member, and Figure 5 is a cross-section of part of the ridge assembly where a bridging member meets the ridge member.

Referring first to figure 1, a pre-fabricated roof comprises a plurality of glazing panels 10 arranged on either side of a ridge 11. On each side of the ridge the panels 10 are arranged edge to edge in substantially co-planar relationship, and are inclined upwardly towards the ridge. Thus, in the arrangement shown in figure 1, there are three glazing panels on each side of the ridge (the panels hidden in figure 1 are symmetrical with those which can be seen), so that there are three pairs of panels upwardly inclined towards one another at the ridge.

An elongate ridge member 12 of substantially constant cross-section bridges the adjacent edges of each pair of glazing panels (see also figure 2), and carries in a central slot 14 on its top surface a plurality of crest sections 13 which form a continuous decorative crest along the length of the ridge member 12. A finial 15, to be described, completes the decorative aspect of the ridge 11.

A plurality of elongate bridging members 16, to be described later, extend downwardly and outwardly from the ridge member 12, and each covers the gap between an adjacent pair of the coplanar glazing panels 10.

Referring now more particularly to figures 2 and 3, the roof includes a ridge frame member in the form of a wooden beam 17 which is overlapped on its opposite longitudinal edges by the respective edges of pairs of the glazing panels 10, shown here as triple glazing panels. The panels 10 are held firmly in place on the beam 17 by the elongate ridge member 12 which bridges across the gap between the adjacent edges of the panels 10 on the opposite side thereof to the beam 17.

The ridge member 12, which is made for example from extruded aluminium, has a cross-section which is generally in the form of a shallow arch or inverted V-shape. It is secured to the beam 17 by a series of screws 25 disposed spaced apart along the length of the ridge member 12, the screws extending through respective apertures in the ridge member 12 and passing to the beam 17, into which they are screwed, via the gap between the adjacent edges of the panels 10. Thus the edges of the panels 10 are clamped between the beam 17 and the ridge member 12.

The ridge member 12 has on its under surface a respective pair of slots 18 and 19 extending along each lateral edge. A respective elongate resilient gasket 20 or 21 of substantially constant cross section has a rib 22 or 23 (figures 2A and 2B) which is accommodated in one of the slots 18 or 19 so that the gaskets extend along opposite longitudinal edges of the ridge member 12 to serve as weather seals which seals against the upper surface of the respective glazing panel 10.

It will be understood that two slots 18 and 19 are provided to provide a choice of gasket types to use, gaskets of the type 20 being accommodated in the slot 18 and gaskets of the type 21 being accommodated in the slot 19. Therefore, although figure 2 shows one of each of the two different types of gasket 20 and 21 in use on the ridge member 12, this is for illustration only and in practice both gaskets would be of the same type, either type 20 or type 21. Gaskets 24 are also provided in recesses formed along the opposite edges of the beam 17, as shown.

The top surface of the ridge member 12 has a central slot 14 with a restricted opening, in particular the slot is of shallow inverted T-shaped cross section. The bottom edge or base 13' of each crest section 13, which is located in the slot 14, has an inverted T-shaped cross section complementary to that of the slot 14. Thus the crest sections 13 have to be slid into the slot 14 from one end of the ridge member 12. The crest sections 13 abut end to end along the slot 14 as seen in figure 3 to form a continuous decorative crest. However, to avoid daylight being seen through the abutting ends of the crest sections 13, these ends have complementary steps as shown at 26 in figure 3. The base of the slot 14 has a channel 27 to accommodate the heads of the screws 25, thereby ensuring that the latter do not interfere with the crest sections 13 as they are slid along the slot 14 into their desired positions.

The finial 15 is essentially a stop member for the otherwise open end of the ridge member 12. Thus it has a horizontal projection (not shown) with substantially the same cross section as the slot 14 which is inserted into the slot after all the crest sections 13 have been slid in. It serves as a decorative end piece to the ridge member 12.

The elongate bridging members 16, which are also of extruded aluminium, are constructed and arranged essentially the same as shown in figure 1 of our co-pending Irish Patent Application No 921438. Thus they bridge across the gap between adjacent side edges of the coplanar glazing panels 10 on each side of the ridge 11 and clamp these side edges to underlying rafters by a series of screws in much the same way as the ridge member 12 clamps the upper edges of the panels to the beam 17.

To provide a weatherproof join between the top end of each bridging member 16 where it meets the lateral edge of the ridge member 12, a respective connecting piece 30 is used. Each connecting piece 30 is of injection moulded UV stabilised plastics material and comprises three sections, a flat tongue 31 which extends under the lateral edge of the ridge member 12 (figures 3 and 5), a body portion 32 which has a shallow generally trapezoidal cross section complementary to the internal shape of the bridging member 13 and which fits snugly inside the upper end of the latter (see figure 4), and a flange 33 perpendicular to the tongue 30.

The upper edge of the flange 33 has substantially the same profile as the upper surface of the member 16 so that when the body portion is inserted in the member 16 the upper edge 33' of the flange 33 is flush with the upper surface of the member 16. The flange 33 has lateral portions 34 which cover the open ends of channels 35 in the under surface of the member 16, such channels 35 accommodating gaskets (not shown) which seal against the glazing panels 10 in a similar way to the gaskets 20 or 21.

Thus the body portion 32 inserted in the member 16 locates the connecting piece in position, the tongue 31 which extends under the ridge member 12 covers the gap between the adjacent edges of the glazing panels 10 at the join to prevent the ingress of rainwater and draughts, and the flange 33 prevents the connecting piece from slipping down into the bridging member 16 and provides a neat finish to the join. The gaskets 20 or 21 may be omitted at the places where the tongues 31 extend under the ridge member 12, as shown in figure 5, or they can continue across the tongues.

Claims (7)

CLAIMS:

1. A ridge assembly for a pre-fabricated roof, comprising an elongate ridge member of substantially constant cross section which bridges the adjacent edges of a pair of glazing panels which are upwardly inclined towards one another at the ridge, the ridge member having on its under surface a respective slot extending alongside each lateral edge and having on its top surface a central slot, the assembly further including a respective gasket accommodated in each edge slot which seals against the respective glazing panel, and a plurality of crest sections disposed end to end along the central slot with their bottom edges located in the slot.

2. A ridge assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the abutting ends of the crest sections have complementary steps .

3. A ridge assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the central slot has a restricted opening so that the crest sections must be slid in from an end of the ridge member.

4. A ridge assembly as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the base of the central slot has a channel to accommodate the heads of fixing devices by which the ridge member is secured in position.

5. A ridge assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein on each side of the ridge member there are a plurality of substantially coplanar upwardly inclined glazing panels arranged edge to edge with opposite pairs of the panels being bridged as aforesaid by the ridge member, the ridge assembly further including a plurality of elongate bridging members each extending downwardly and outwardly from the ridge member each to cover the gap between an adjacent pair of coplanar panels, and a 5 connecting piece at the upper end of each bridging member including a tongue which extends under the lateral edge of the ridge member and a body portion which is inserted into the upper end of the bridging member.

6. A ridge assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A ridge member for use in an assembly as claimed in 15 any preceding claim, the member having a substantially constant cross section generally in the form of a shallow arch, the ridge member further having on its under surface a respective slot extending alongside each lateral edge and having on its top surface a central 20 slot having a restricted opening. F. R. KELLY & CO. AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS