WO1992008860A1

WO1992008860A1 - Roof construction

Info

Publication number: WO1992008860A1
Application number: PCT/SE1991/000771
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nils-Gunnar Jansson
Original assignee: Jansson Nils Gunnar
Priority date: 1990-11-13
Filing date: 1991-11-13
Publication date: 1992-05-29
Also published as: SE9003621D0; SE469340B; SE9003621L

Abstract

A roof construction for glazed roofs comprising joists which are intended to support respective edge parts of two mutually adjacent sheets of glass or some other appropriate material, a covering strip which is intended to be placed on top of the glass sheets and secured to the joists, and sealing strips placed on the upper surfaces of the joists and on the undersurfaces of the covering strips. The invention is characterized in that the sealing strips (6) placed on the joists (1) extend continuously over all joists so as to form a continuous or unbroken watertight layer on top of the joists (1); in that, when seen in cross-section, the sealing strips (6) have at their respective longitudinal edges an outer upstanding part (8, 9) whose vertical extension above the upper surface (10) of the joist (1) is smaller than the vertical extension of a central upstanding part (11) on the sealing strip (6) and in that the two parts (12, 13) of the sealing strip (6) which lie between the central part (11) and the outer parts (8, 9) has the lowest vertical extension above the upper surface (10) of the joist; and in that the glass sheets (3, 4) are intended to lie on and be supported by the outer upstanding parts (8, 9) of respective sealing strips (6).

Description

Roof Construction

The present invention relates to a roof construction for roofs which comprise a system of joists with sheets of glass or some other materia laid thereon.

Such roof constructions are found, inter alia, in building struc¬ tures that are provided with a completely or partially glazed roof and in atrium-like structures, hereinafter referred to as outhouses. Such outhouses, for instance, may be annexed to a private house or villa and may be of simple construction where the glass roof is mainly intended as a shelter against rain, although such outhouses may also be closed and sealed against the surroundings. Outhouses of this latter kind may also be heated.

A traditional method of constructing a glass roof is to place glass panels or sheets in mutually contiguous relationship on, e.g. , wooden or alum_i_nium profiled sections. A sealing strip, for instance a rubber sealing strip, is placed on top of the profiled sections and the glass sheets are rested against the sealing strips. When the profiled sections, or joists, are positioned so that two mutually adjacent glass sheets rest on a joist, the glass sheets are posi¬ tioned in mutually spaced relationship. Placed on the glass sheets and the joist is a covering strip which is made of wood or alurt nium for instance, and the underside of which is provided with a sealing strip which lies against the upper surfaces of respective glass sheets. The covering strip is either screwed or nailed firmly to the joist, with the aid of nails or screws which extend -hrσugh said covering strip, between the mutually adjacent glass sheets and down into the joist. The covering strip functions to cover the join between two mutually adjacent glass sheets, and also to anchor the glass sheets to the underlying joist system.

One great problem with roof structures of this kind is that water is likely to enter the space defined by two mutually adjacent glass sheets, the joist and the covering strip, despite the presence of the sealing strips. The water tends to move downwards, particularly at the point of intersection of mutually crossing joists, causing leakages in the roof. When using wooden joists, this ingress of water may result in rotting of the joists, fungi attack, etc.

It is obvious that such glass roofs are difficult to seal effectively, because of the large quanti ies of rain and molten snow to which they are subjected, this problem being accentuated by the fact that the roofs of such structures normally have a very low pitch.

This problem is solved by the present invention, which provides a roof structure which is cαπpletely watertight.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a roof construction for glazed roofing, cαπprising joists which are each intended to support a respective edge part of two mutually adjacent sheets of glass or scone other appropriate material, and a covering strip which is intended to be placed on tcp of the glass sheets and secured to the joists, and further ccamprising sealing strips on the upper side of the joists and on the undersides of the covering strips, said roof structure being characterized in that said sealing strips that are placed on top of the joists extend continuously over all of said joists so as to form a continuous, unbroken, watertight layer on top of the joists; in that, in cross-section, each sealing strip has at its respective longitudinally extending edges an outer ups-arxϊing part whose height or vertical extension above the upper surface of said joist is lower than a central upstanding part of the sealing strip; in that those two parts of the sealing strip which lie between the central and the outer parts thereof have the lowest height or vertical extension above the upper surface of the joists; and in that the glass sheets are intended to lie against and be supported by the outer upstanding parts of the sealing strip.

The invention will now be described in more detail, partly with reference to an exerrplifying ei-bodiment thereof illustrated in the accraπpanying drawing, in whic

- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a glass roof for an outhouse; - Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along a vertical symmetry line of a joist with which the invention is applied, said view being take on the line A-A in Figure 1;

- Figure 3 illustrates schematically the point of intersection of mutually perpendicular joists, seen from above in Figure l; and

- Figure 4 illustrates schematically a point of intersection of mutually perpendicular joists, seen from above in Figure l, and shows the upper side of respective joists on which glass sheets are intended to be placed.

Figure 1 is a schematic, perspective view of a roof construction for the glazed roof of an outhouse, said roof construction comprising joists 1 which are intended to support respective edge parts 2, see Figure 2, of two mutually adjacent glass sheets 3, 4, and further includes a covering strip 5, see Figure 2, which is intended to be placed on top of the glass sheets 3, 4 and fastened to the joists 1. The roof construction also includes sealing strips 6, 7 placed on the upper sides of respective joists and on the undersides of respective covering strips.

The joists may be ∞mprised of aluirάjiium profiled sections or may be made of wood, as mentioned in the following. In the case of the illustrated, exemplifying embodiment of the invention, however, the joists and covering strips are ∞mprised of aluitti um profiles.

According to the present invention, those sealing strips 6 which are placed on top of the joists 1 extend continuously over all joists, so as to obtain a continuous, i.e. unbroken, vratertight layer over all of the joists, see Figure 4. In the Figure 4 embodiment, the joists have a construction vΛiich is different to that illustrated in Figure 2, with the intention of showing that the joists may have different configurations.

Notwithstanding the configuration of the joists, when seen in cross- section, each sealing strip 6 has along its respective longitud- inally extending edges an outer upstanding part 8, 9 whose vertical extension above the upper surface 10 of the joist is shorter than a central upstanding part 11 of the sealing strip. The two parts 12, 13 of the sealing strip which are located between the central part 11 and the cuter parts 8, 9 have the shortest vertical extension above the upper surface 10 of said joist. The glass sheets 3, 4 are intended to lie against and be supported by the outer upstanding parts 8, 9 of the sealing strip 6.

Figures 1 and 4 illustrate mutually crossing joists 1, said joists being mutually connected in some appropriate manner at their points of intersection.

The sealing strip 6 is bevelled at the points where respective joints intersect one another, so as to form join lines 14 between the mutually crossing sealing strips, the mutually connecting sealing strips 6 being glued together at said join lines. The sealing strips may be made of any suitable material whatsoever, although a synthetic rubber material is preferred.

According to one preferred err-bodiment, the joist 1 is an alirniinium profile 15; 16 which has an upper surface 17; 18 whose shape cor¬ responds substantially to the shape of the upper surface of the sealing strip 6. In this case, a hole or gap 19 may occur at the end of the central part of said sealing strip at the vicinity of the joist intersections. This gap occurs because a sealing strip l¹ has not been cut so that its central upstanding part will connect snugly with the central upstanding part of an intersecting sealing strip 1". Such gaps αr holes can be sealed with a sealing cαtpound, which may ccstprise the adhesive used to join the sealing strips together at the join lines 14.

It is thus evident that a continuous watertight layer is formed on top of the joists but beneath the glass, this layer consisting of the sealing strips 6.

Because the vertical extension of the cuter parts 8, 9 and the central part 11 is greater than the vertical extension of the intermediate parts 12, 13, said intermediate parts 12, 13 will form fully sealed drainage channels which are mutually joined over the whole of the joist system. Thus, any water which is able to penetrate in spite of everything, or which forms as condensation in the space defined by the sealing strips, the edges 2 of the glass sheets and the covering strips 5, will thus be transported by the channels and run-off the roof structure. The channels are preferably open at the eaves of the roof.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along a vertical symmetry line of a joist 1, said view being taken on the line A-A in Figure 1.

As shown in Figure 2, the covering strips 5 are intended to be secured to respective joists 1, by means of screws 20 or nails, said screws 20 or said nails extending through the upper surface of the central part 11 of respective sealing strips 6.

The central upstanding part 21 of the joist 1, with which the central part 11 of the sealing strip 6 connects, is intended to coact with screws 20 which extend through the covering strip 5.

According to one preferred embodiment, the upper surface of the covering strips 5 is on a higher level than the upper surface of the glass sheets 3.

It is also preferred that the covering strip 5 on its upper surface includes a cap 22 which extends along the covering strip 5 and connect with and lies outside the side edges 23 of said covering strip 5. This arrangement will ensure that all water is conducted out to the glass sheets and will be unable to penetrate into the joists from above. The cap 22 is suitably fastened to the covering strip by means of snap-on fasteners which include hooks 24.

It has been said in the aforegoing that the supporting joists may be made of wood. In such cases, an aluminiiim profile which in principle has a configuration corresponding to the configuration of the joist 1 in Figure 4 above the line B-B, may be secured to the upper surface of the wooden joist. Of course, other aluminium profiles that are adapted for use in ccBtribination with the upper surface of a wooden joist may also be used. Alternatively, a wooden joist whose upper part has been planed to a shape suitable as a support surface for the wooden strip 6 can be used.

It has been stated in the aforegoing that the instead of glass sheets other appropriate material can be used. Examples of such materials include metal sheet, plastic, etc.

It is evident that the present invention solves the problem mentioned in the introduction. It is also evident that the present invention can be modified with respect to the configuration of the joists and the sealing strips without departing frcan the inventive concept i.e. to arrange a continuous tight layer on top of the joists but under the glass.

The present invention shall not therefore be considered restricted to the afαredescribed embodiments, since variations and modifications can be made within the scope of the following Claims.

Claims

1. A roof construction for glazed roofing, comprising joists which are intended to support respective edge parts of two mutually adjacent sheets of glass or same other appropriate material, and a covering strip which is intended to be placed on top of the glass sheets and secured to the joists, and further includes sealing strips on the upper sides of the joists and on the undersides of the covering strips, ch a r a ct er i z ed in that the sealing strips (6) are placed continuously over all of said joists (1) so as to form a continuous, i.e. unbroken, watertight layer on top of said joist (1) ; in that when seen in cross-section, the sealing strip (6) has at its respective longtudinally extending edges an outer upstanding part (8, 9) whose vertical extension above the upper surface (10) of the joist (1) is smaller than the vertical extension of a central upstanding part (11) on the sealing strip (6) and in that the two parts (12, 13) of the sealing strip (6) located between the central part (11) and the outer parts (8, 9) has the lowest vertical extension above the upper surface (10) of the joist; and in that the glass sheets (3, 4) are intended to lie on and be supported by the outer upstanding parts (8, 9) of the sealing strip (6) .

2. A roof construction in accordance with Claim 1, ch a r a c t e r i z e d in that the covering strip (5) is intended to be fastened to a respective joist (1) by means of a screw (20) or nail joint, said screws (20) or said nails extending through the upper surface of the central part (11) of said sealing strip (6) .

3. A roof construction in accordance with Claim 2, ch a r a c t e r i z e d in that the joist (1) is an alu_ri_nium profiled section whose upper surface has a shape which generally corresponds to the shape of the upper surface of the sealing strip (6) ; and in that a central upst__nding part (21) on the joist (1) against which the central part (11) of the sealing strip connects is intended to coaσt with the screws (20) . 4. A roof c_αnstructiαn according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, ch ar a c¬ ter i z ed in that the upper surface of the covering strip (5) is located on a higher level than the upper surface of the glass sheet (3,

4).

5. A roof construction according to any one of the preceding Claims, ch a r a c t er i z e d in that the upper surface of the covering strip (5) is covered with a covering cap (22) vΛiich extends along said covering strip and which conforms to and extends externally of the side edges of the covering strip (5) .