Patent Application
20070193116
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Green roofs, roof gardens, eco-roofs all refer to the planting of vegetation on the roof surface of building structures. The principle of green roofs has been widely used in Europe for several decades. Roof top vegetation substantially reduces storm water run off, solar heat gain, and thermal transfer through the roof. In addition, large vegetated surfaces help to replenish oxygen through photosynthesis. Though the benefits are many, the typical green roof costs are several times that of most roofing systems. The high price of typical green roof construction emanates from costly waterproofing procedures, extensive drainage layers, soil of depths ranging from eight inches to twenty four inches, and additional required structural construction to support resulting increased weight. Repairs to the roofing membrane are extremely expensive due to the large quantities of material that must be moved to access the waterproofing layer.
Roof planters have recently been developed that can be placed atop standard roofs without the need for special roof construction. These include modular and full system planters in which the plants are housed in rigid containers atop the roof. However, these planters still have cost disadvantages. In particular, the material handling aspect of green roof installation continues to be problematic. Large amounts of soil (also known as “growth media”) are needed for plant growth on rooftops. Transporting the required soil from the source to the project rooftop is difficult and expensive. While pre-planted module planters are a significant improvement over previous methods of green roof installation, they are heavy and the cost of such module planters presents a barrier that many projects are unable to overcome. Moreover, it is desirable that planters installed on a roof be movable in order to provide access to the roof under the planters for inspection and maintenance of the roof. Hence, a more mobile and cost-effective planter is desirable. In addition, there is resistance to using green roof systems due to the need for installation methods that vary substantially from techniques and methods traditionally used in the roofing industry. Hence, it is desirable to have a roof planter that can be installed by more traditional methods commonly used in the roofing industry.
In addition, each roofing manufacturer markets and sells roofing material of differing compositions, and each manufacturer offers warranties on its new roofing material. During construction of a roof, it is often desirable and/or necessary for the laborers to tread upon newly laid roofing. To minimize trauma to the newly laid roofing and to prevent the voiding of warranties on the newly laid roofing, each manufacturer markets and sells walk pad material that can be placed upon the newly laid roofing to allow laborers to walk atop the newly laid roofing with minimal damage and without voiding the roofing manufacturer's warranties. Each roofing manufacturer's walk pad is composed of material specifically engineered for use on that same manufacturer's roofing material. The use of any other walk pad or any other material on the roof risks damage to the roofing material and voiding of the manufacturer's warranty. This can present yet another major obstacle to the acceptability of green roof systems.
The illustrative embodiments of the present invention are shown in the following drawings that form a part of the specification:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention (
The pad 20 (
The sack 12 of
The sack 12 is formed of a fabric 30 as depicted in
The sack 12 of the present embodiment of the planter 10 as shown in
The adaptive nature of the present roof planter invention provides a substantial improvement over existing roof planters. For example, the sack 12 may be filled with growth media 16 at any time that is most convenient to the user prior to planting the vegetation 18 in the growth media. It may be desirable to fill the sack 12 with growth media 16 at a manufacturing or processing facility and then transport the filled sack 12 and associated pads 20 to a job site where they will then be positioned on the upper surface of a roof 11. The vegetation 18 may be planted in the growth media 16 prior to, or after, the planter 10 is positioned on the roof 11. Alternatively, the sack 12 may be delivered to a job site empty, and the growth media 16 may be placed in the sack 12 at the site. Again, the vegetation 18 may be planted in the growth media 16 prior to, or after, the planter 10 is positioned on the roof 11. In yet another alternative, both the growth media 16 and the vegetation 18 can be added to the sack 12 after the sack 12 is positioned on the pad 20 on the surface of the roof 11.
Further, quantities of the sacks 12 can be transported in bulk prior to filling with the growth media 16, or alternatively, quantities of the sacks 12 can readily be transported after already being filled with growth media 16. In the latter case, the sacks 12 may be conveniently stacked in groups or even on a pallet 32 for ease of conventional transport. (see
In contrast with conventional rigid roof planter systems, which can only be shipped in quantities that cover approximately 64 square feet per standard pallet, the pre-packed sacks 12 can be shipped in quantities that will cover approximately 218 square feet per standard pallet. This increased shipping capacity reduces transport costs at each phase of distribution; warehousing, shipping to the project, and loading to the rooftop. Additionally, this concept allows for pre-packed soil to be easily warehoused and stocked without consideration given to shipping and storage duration or weather conditions. Moreover, the flexible and durable nature of the sacks 12 also allows for convenient transport with a lower likelihood of damage as compared with conventional rigid roof planters.
Hence, the sack 12 may be transported, along with the growth media 16 and the vegetation 18 and the protective pad 20, to a desired job site. There, the sack 12 may be filled with the growth media 16 before or after placement of the sack 12 on the roof surface 11. Similarly, the slits 14 may be formed or cut into the sack 12 before or after placement of the sack 12 on the roof surface 11. In fact, the slits 14 can even be formed in the sack 12 during manufacture of the sack 12 or prior to transport. It then follows that the vegetation 18 may be placed in the growth media 16 prior to placement on the roof surface 11 or after the sack is placed on the roof surface 11, so long as the sack 12 has first been filled with the growth media 16, and the slits 14 have been formed or cut into the sack 12.
As can be appreciated, all these variations and options in formation and placement of the sack planter 10 on a roof surface 11 provide a great degree of flexibility to the installer or user. In addition, the sack planter 10 can be manufactured in nearly limitless variations of size, shape and material configuration. Hence, the shape, size and weight of the planter 10 can readily be altered either at the manufacturing facility or even at the job site to accommodate specific needs or even aesthetic or artistic expression on any given installation.
Further exhibiting the unique adaptive characteristics of the present invention 10, due to its pliant nature and the large contact area of relatively high friction materials, the sack planter 10 is remarkably stable when properly positioned on the roof surface 11. Yet, the roof planter 10 can readily be removed from its resting location to allow, for example, the repositioning of the planter 10, inspection or repair of the planter 10, or inspection or maintenance of the surface of the roof 11. In addition, due to their compliant and formable nature, multiple sacks 12 of the present invention can be positioned next to one another with minimal precision, and yet accomplish proper installation and placement. As a result, the positioning of multiple sacks 12 on the surface of a roof 11 can be accomplished in less time and with less difficulty than is required for the positioning of conventional roof planters. These benefits are in addition to the benefits of the fabric roof planter over conventional roof planters realized due to the ease with which the fabric roof planter can be transported.
As a further feature of the present invention, the roof planter 10 may be placed upon a suitable roof surface 11, where the roof surface 11 is covered at least in part by a surface membrane M of roofing material having a known surface composition. (
For example, should the roof planter 10 be slated for placement atop a roof having Firestone Building Products (“Firestone’) roofing material, then the pad 20 for that specific application would be constructed of walk pad material produced by Firestone, or in the alternative, the pad 20 could be constructed of any other material specifically approved for such use by Firestone. Alternately, the pad 20 may be compatible if they are constructed of a material that imparts minimal chemical degradation or physical wear to the roofing material, even if the pad 20 is not recognized or certified by any roofing material manufacturer. Of course, it is also possible that in certain applications, the sack 12 itself may be compatible with the roof surface membrane M, so that no pad 20 is necessary for such applications.
Additional variations on the basic construction are also available. For example, the exact shape and size of the roof planter 10 can be varied to form larger or smaller roof planter configurations. The sack 12 may be thick or thin. Further, the sack 12 may be shaped in a variety of configurations in all three dimensions, taking for example the shape of a box, a tube, or a cup. Hence, the roof planter 10 may be a shape other than rectangular or square, such as, round, oval, triangular, or any other shape desired by the user. The sack 12 of the roof planter 10 may be constructed of a variety of materials, including but not limited to fabric, woven knitted high density polyethylene, rubber, paper, plastic, foam and cloth, or any other suitable material that is moisture permeable while being capable of retaining the growth media 16. Each dimension of the roof planter 10, and thereby all of its components, may be of varying sizes. Similarly, more than one pad 20 may be used for each sack 12, or more than one sack 12 may be placed on a single pad 20. The exact number of pads 20 used in each embodiment may vary. For instance, in some applications it may only be desirable to use a single pad 20, while in other applications, a larger number of pads 20 may be desirable. In still other applications, it may be desirable to place more than one sack 12 on a single pad 20, or to bridge one or more sacks 12 across one or more pads 20. Further, the pad 20 may be formed of a single layer of material, or may be formed of two or more such layers. Hence, the number of pads 20 used may vary from a single pad to as many as the user may deem appropriate for the specific application. Further, the pads 20 may be attached to either the roof surface 11 or to the sack 12, and this attachment may be accomplished by a number of methods, including for example, the use of adhesives, rivets, bolts, slides, hinges, and nails, as well as other methods that would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Alternately, the pad 20 may be attached to the sack 12 and the sack 12, with the attached pad 20, can then be set upon the roof surface 11. The pad 20 may also be formed in a variety of shapes, such as oval, round, hexagonal or polygonal. The pad 20 may be of uniform or non-uniform dimensions, including thickness. The pad 20 may be perforated, and may comprise surface features such as abrasions, pits, and extrusions.
Of course, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that structural members may be added to strategic positions on or in the roof planter 10 to allow the use of a variety of materials. In addition, drain holes may be added to the sack 12 or the pad 20 to regulate the moisture content of the roof planter 10. Such drain holes may be covered with mesh or other covering to help prevent the release of the growth medium 16 from the roof planter 10.
The number and configuration of the slits 14 can also be varied. Virtually any reasonable number of slits 14 may be formed or cut into the sack 12, so long as the vegetation 18 can be planted through the slits 14 and the slits 14 are not so numerous or positioned so that they materially degrade the functional integrity of the sack 12 nor the ability of the sack 12 to retain the growth media 16. In addition, the slits 14 may be formed in virtually any shape and size, such that the slits 14 may actually be openings and not slit-shaped at all, again so long as the vegetation 18 can be planted through the slits 14 (or openings) and the configurations do not materially degrade the functional integrity of the sack 12 nor the ability of the sack 12 to retain the growth media 16.
Further, the roof planter 10 may additionally incorporate features to aid in handling the planter, such as handles and grips. For instance, the sack 12 or the pad 20 may be shaped to incorporate handles, grips or grip holes, or such features may simply be attached to the roof planter 10. In addition, the vegetation 18 may consist of virtually any plant or combination of different plants that may be selected by the user.
The detailed description above illustrates the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation. This description clearly enables one skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and describes several embodiments, adaptations, variations, alternatives and uses of the invention, including what I presently believe is the best mode of carrying out the invention. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
