Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Combined – With a sunlight activated device
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-29
2001-02-06
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Combined
With a sunlight activated device
C052S478000, C052S536000, C052S546000, C052S550000, C052S551000, C136S244000, C136S206000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182404
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to a sub-roofing element for a flat, plate-shaped structural element, in particular for a solar energy collection module that can be fastened to joist elements that can be laid on a pitched roof in the ridge-eaves direction, whereby the sub-roofing element is made of watertight material and has at least one water channel.
2. Background Information
Such a system is described in German Patent No. 94 09 453.9 U1, for example. In this system, modules are arranged so that they overlap one another in the longitudinal direction of the roof. In this specification, the longitudinal direction is called the ridge-eaves line, and the transverse direction is designated a line parallel to the ridge or to the eaves. As the joist elements, there are wooden profiles laid in the edge-eaves direction which, on their ridge-side end, are in contact with a roof batten and on their eaves-side end are in contact with a wooden batten that is laid parallel to a roof batten and adjacent to the latter. The wooden batten projects beyond the upper edge of the roof batten by approximately the thickness of the module.
The wooden profiles, on their surface, have a depression that runs in the longitudinal center, so that this depression, when located on the edges of two modules butted against one another, serves as a drain channel for the discharge of any water that may have penetrated into the gap. Some of the disadvantages of this system are that additional wooden battens must be laid parallel to the roof battens, and that additional stays that are engaged around the eaves-side edge of the modules are necessary for fastening.
European Patent No. 0 547 285 and German Patent No. 33 14 637 disclose a roofing plate that can be provided on its upper side with a small-format module. The roofing plate is provided on one longitudinal edge with a water channel or drip edge, and on the other longitudinal edge with a cover channel or water stop. The module is always supported on the roofing plate close to the water channel and the cover channel. When the roof is being laid, the roofing plates are laid in a course parallel to the eaves, whereby one roofing plate, with its cover channel, always overlaps the water channel of a neighboring roofing plate in the same course, so that no rain water can penetrate between the roofing plates.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to create a seal for a system of structural elements, in particular a solar energy collection system, in which the structural elements are butted up against one another in the transverse direction and against neighboring roofing tiles, partly overlap one another in the longitudinal direction, and are laid on joist elements that are located at a distance from a butt joint.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention teaches that this object can be accomplished if the sub-roofing element on the joist elements and underneath a plate-shaped structural element can be laid and is shaped so that there is at least one raised bead that runs in the ridge-eaves direction, can receive a joist element and the bead is wider than the joist element, so that the sub-roofing element can be displaced parallel to the eaves, and so that the water channel can be located underneath the longitudinal edges of two plate-shaped elements butted up against one another. Preferably, the joist elements are laid in lines tangent to approximately the quarter points, or quarter-chord points, of the structural elements, so that the transverse distance between two joist elements equals one-half the width of a structural element. It is therefore advantageous to provide sub-roofing elements at approximately one-half the width of the structural elements. For example, sub-roofing elements that have outside dimensions of 42.1 cm×64.4 cm for use with photovoltaic modules that have outside dimensions of approximately 38 cm×120 cm., the width dimension which is greater than one-half the width results from the fact that two neighboring sub-roofing elements are laid so that their edges overlap. An overhang in the longitudinal direction makes possible good ventilation on the underside of the photovoltaic modules.
A sub-roofing element essentially does not need to absorb any bearing forces, so that it can be made of a plastic film, i.e. one that can be manufactured using a deep drawing, or swedging, or extrusion process, to provide several raised or recessed beads. When very thin material is used, the use of a reinforcement is recommended in the vicinity of the water channel, which can be realized in the form of a groove or trough, for example, as a separate component.
The sub-roofing element can lie on the upper side of the joist element and protect the underside of the structural element, if the sub-roofing element has a penetration at least in the vicinity of the eaves-side terminal segment of the raised bead that contains the joist element, through which penetration a locator of the joist element for the plate-shaped structural element can be inserted.
A tight laterally overlapping laying of the sub-roofing elements is possible if, in the vicinity of both longitudinal edges, at least one raised bead is provided, whereby the raised bead on one end can act as a receptacle for the raised bead on the other edge of a neighboring, identical sub-roofing element. Preferably, the raised bead is narrow on one edge and sufficiently wide on the other edge so that the narrow raised bead covered by the wide raised bead can be pushed sideways. Dimensional tolerances can thus be easily compensated during laying. In particular when installing structural elements that are laid on one side on the water channel of an adjacent roofing plate, but have a butt joint on the other side, their coverage width in the transverse direction for the structural element on top of the water channel is less than for another element. Therefore it is advantageous if the sub-roofing element laid adjacent to the water channel of the roofing plate can be displaced by the width of the water channel in the transverse direction toward the neighboring sub-roofing element.
To explain, in at least one embodiment of the present invention when a structural element is installed such that a longitudinal edge overlaps the water channel of an adjacent roofing plate, the amount of this overlap can reduce the transverse coverage width which the sub-roofing elements preferably cover, as compared to another possible structural element. Therefore, it is advantageous if the sub-roofing element laid adjacent to the water channel of the roofing plate can be displaced, or shifted, by the width of the water channel in the transverse direction toward the neighboring sub-roofing element.
This capability can be achieved if the receiving raised beads are wider than the raised beads or the joist to be received.
The sub-roofing element can create a particularly good seal for the peripheral area of a structural element lying on the water channel of a neighboring roofing plate if the peripheral segment of the longitudinal edge adjacent to the receiving raised bead is as wide as the receiving raised bead. The peripheral segment of the sub-roofing element can thereby be positioned underneath the water channel.
The receiving raised bead on one longitudinal edge and the water channel on the opposite longitudinal edge can be realized so that they are approximately complementary to one another, if the water channel is realized so that it is adjacent to the receiving raised bead.
Not only can the sub-roofing element drain off any water that has penetrated, but it can also influence the ventilation underneath the structural elements, if the longitudinal edges and the eaves-side edge of the sub-roofing element run at the height of the low areas, or recessed areas, and the ridge-side edge runs at the height of the equally-high raised beads, whereby all the raised beads have the same height.
The objective is to have a controlled ventilation, to conduct a cooling air curre
Rinklake Manfred
Rosler Norbert
Friedman Carl D.
Lafarge Braas GmbH
Nils H. Ljungman & Associates
Yip Winnie
LandOfFree
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