Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Fold at edge
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-04
2004-02-10
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Fold at edge
C052S409000, C052S410000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06689449
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to roof decking membrane welding and attachment systems, and more particularly to a new and improved roof decking membrane welding and attachment system, and a method of implementing the same, wherein improved or enhanced strength and failure-resistance attributes or properties, characteristic of the roof decking membrane, are able to be achieved.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the building industry, roof decking components or structural members conventionally have insulation slabs or substrates disposed thereon, and weather-protection membranes are in turn adapted to be secured atop the insulation slabs or substrates so as to protect the same from deterioration which would otherwise occur as a result of being exposed to various environmental or weather conditions. The membranes and the underlying insulation slabs or substrates are conventionally secured to the underlying roof decking by means of fastener assemblies which may comprise, for example, a combination of roofing, seam, or membrane plates, batten strips, or batten bars, which are adapted to be disposed atop the membranes, whereupon, in turn, suitable bolt fasteners secure the plates, batten strips, or batten bars to the underlying roof decking. Examples of such membrane, plate, and batten strip or batten bar mounting systems are disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,034 which issued on Jun. 26, 2001 to Hulsey, U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,122 which issued on Feb. 13, 2001 to Hubbard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,786 which issued on May 2, 2000 to Hubbard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,116 which issued on Jan. 27, 1998 to Hasan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,671 which issued on Nov. 28, 1995 to Rathgeber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,685 which issued on May 10, 1994 to Rathgeber et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,699 which issued on Aug. 7, 1990 to Murphy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,828 which issued on May 30, 1989 to Murphy, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,188 which issued on Nov. 29, 1988 to Murphy.
With reference initially being made to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional PRIOR ART roof decking membrane welding or attachment system or technique is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character
10
. Roof decking is disclosed at
12
, and it is seen that the roof decking
12
has a corrugated configuration comprising a plurality of transversely spaced crest portions
14
and a plurality of transversely spaced root portions
16
interposed between the crest portions
14
. An insulation slab or panel
18
is disposed atop the roof decking
12
and is adapted to be secured to the roof decking
12
by means of a plurality of, for example, transversely spaced bolt fasteners
20
, only one of which is shown, which are adapted to be threadedly engaged within predetermined ones of the transversely spaced crest portions
14
of the roof decking
12
. Environmental-protection or weather-resistant membranes are also adapted to be disposed and secured atop the insulation slab or panel
18
, and in accordance with conventional techniques, a seam plate or membrane plate
22
, similar, for example, to that disclosed within the aforenoted Hulsey patent, is adapted to be secured upon the upper surface portion of the insulation slab or panel
18
by means of one of the bolt fasteners
20
. A right lateral side edge portion
24
, as viewed in the drawing figures, of a first membrane member or component
26
is disposed beneath the seam plate or membrane plate
22
so as to therefore effectively be trapped beneath the seam or membrane plate
22
with the free edge region
28
of the first membrane member or component
26
extending outwardly beyond a first right side portion
30
of the seam or membrane plate
22
.
A second membrane member or component
32
is adapted to be fixedly secured to or mated with the first membrane member or component
26
so as to effectively provide continuity with the first membrane member or component
26
, thereby, in turn, providing continuous weather or environmental protection for the underlying insulation panel
18
across the entire lateral extent thereof. Accordingly, the second membrane member or component
32
is disposed over the seam or membrane plate
22
and the bolt fastener
20
such that a left lateral side edge portion
34
, as viewed in the drawing figures, of the second membrane member or component
32
is able to be fixedly attached to the underlying first membrane member or component
26
within a region of the first membrane member or component
26
which is disposed upon a second side portion
36
of the seam or membrane plate
22
disposed diametrically opposite the first side portion
30
. The first and second membrane members or components
26
,
32
are adapted to be, for example, welded together by means of suitable conventional heat or other techniques, and the extent of the welded overlapped membrane region is schematically illustrated as being within the dotted lined circle
38
. Alternatively, in lieu of the overlapped regions of the first and second membranes being welded together, the overlapped regions of the first and second membranes may be adhesively bonded together. In either case, it is critically important that the first and second membranes that are fixedly connected together be capable of withstanding, for example, wind lift or load forces so as to remain intact and therefore in fact be capable of continuously protecting the underlying insulation slab or panel under various environmental or weather conditions.
As can readily be appreciated from a comparison of
FIGS. 1 and 2
,
FIG. 1
illustrates the roof decking system or assembly
10
in the absence of wind load or lift conditions, while
FIG. 2
illustrates the roof decking system or assembly
10
under wind load or lift conditions. Accordingly, it can be appreciated still further that under wind load conditions, negative pressure conditions disposed above the roof decking membrane members
26
,
32
causes the membranes
26
,
32
to effectively be sucked upwardly as schematically illustrated within FIG.
2
. It is specifically noted that as a result of such wind loads and the suction forces effectively impressed upon the membranes
26
,
32
, and as a result of the particular mode or manner by means of which the first and second membranes
26
,
32
are welded together, when such wind loads and suction forces act upon the membranes
26
,
32
, only the single ply first membrane
26
is disposed in contact with the left edge, left end, or left side portion
36
of the seam or membrane plate
22
, as noted at
40
, and is forcefully moved toward a vertically upward 90° orientation with respect to, for example, the right lateral side edge portion
24
of the membrane
26
which is simply disposed beneath the seam plate or membrane plate
22
and does not play any interactive role in connection with resisting or counteracting such uplifting wind loads or forces. Accordingly, such forces or loads acting upon the membrane
26
, and the vulnerable attachment point of the membrane
26
with respect to the membrane plate
22
, often leads to failure of the membrane
26
in the form of tearing of the membrane
26
around, for example, the left side edge portion
36
of the seam or membrane plate
22
which, in turn, eventually leads to the membrane
26
becoming separated from that portion of the membrane
26
which remains entrapped beneath the seam or membrane plate
22
.
In addition to the aforenoted forces or loads acting upon the membrane
26
and its vulnerable attachment point portion
40
with respect to the seam or membrane plate
22
, such wind loads or forces acting upon both membranes
26
,
32
, through means of the welded region
38
, and in particular as concentrated at the attachment point portion or region
40
, will also tend to impress uplifting forces upon the seam or membrane plate
22
. These forces or loads, in turn, cause forces or loads to be impressed, by means of the membrane plate
22
, upon the bolt fastener
20
thereby tending to, over a period of time, cause loosen
Blucher William J.
Hasan S. Riaz
Reinebach Lawrence R.
Breh Donald J.
Croll Mark W.
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
McDermott Kevin
Soltis Lisa M.
LandOfFree
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