Patent Application
20120125450
Commercial buildings frequently have what are referred to as flat roofs. Such flat roofs must have a slight pitch in order to direct water to a drain. The drain may be at the edge of the building or a corner, or can be in a central portion of the roof in which case there must be a depressed area or sump where the drain is located to encourage water to flow towards the drain. Typically, foam insulation is used to provide the slope. Panels of foam insulation can be formed with a thick edge and a thin edge. These are generally 4×8 sheets of polyisocyanurate foam. These can be purchased having the desired slope. The sump is then formed by cutting individual sheets at the job site to desired size and position around the drain. The waterproof membrane is applied over this and flashing provided at the drain to insure there is no leakage.
This is relatively time consuming. It requires a relatively skilled worker to cut the foam and it also causes a lot of waste at the job site. This makes it difficult to recycle wasted material or to use it for any other purpose. These sumps can be relatively large, i.e., generally 8×8 sections. Typically, roofing materials are 4×8 in size for shipping purposes.
The present invention is premised on the realization that a preformed sump for a flat roof can be formed with a hinge to allow two mirror imaged sides to fold together along the flat edge and be easily shipped to the job location. More particularly, the sump of the present invention includes two mirror image sides, each side having three panels. Each side includes a large central panel in the form of an isosceles triangle with the right angle of the triangle at a center of the sump, along with two smaller side panels also in the form of isosceles triangles. The hypotenuse of the two side panels lies along the legs of the central panel, all sloping towards the center of one edge. The two sides are bonded together with a flexible tape to form a unitary sump that can simply be unfolded and located in position. While the sump is still folded, the center hole is cut out, providing a passage for the drain pipe. The sump is then placed over the drain pipe and the roof covering is installed per standard specifications.
The objects and advantages of the present invention will be further appreciated in light of the following detailed description and drawings in which:
As shown in
The first side 12 and the second side 14, being mirror images of each other, will be described together with like numbers used for like elements, when appropriate.
Each side 12 and 14 includes a central point 18 which is the lowest point on each side and forms the drainage point for the sump which eventually will be cut open to provide access to a drain. Each side 12 and 14 further includes a first long sloped edge 20 which slopes downwardly from either side to the central point 18 from first and second opposed non-sloped short edges 22 and 24. Opposite the long sloped edge 20 is a long non-sloped edge 26. The long edges will generally be eight feet in length and twice the length of the short edges 22 and 24.
Each side 12 and 14 is formed from three panels, a central panel 28, first side panel 30, and second side panel 32. Note that panels 32 and 30 are reversed on sides 12 and 14. The slope for all of these panels is indicated by arrows 33 whose points indicate the downward slope direction of the panel.
The central panel 28 is a right angle isosceles triangle wherein the long non-sloped edge 26 forms the hypotenuse, and sloped edges 34 and 36 form the first and second legs respectively. The right angle 38 (shown in dashed lines) is formed at the central point 18. Panels 30 and 32 likewise are right isosceles triangles. Each has a hypotenuse 40 and 42 which extend along legs 34 and 36 of the central panel 28. Further, each of these panels 30 and 32, include a sloping leg 44 and 46, which extend from the non-sloped edges 22 and 24 towards the central point 18. The remaining leg is formed from the non-sloped edges 22 and 24. Each panel has a 90 degree angle 48 and 50, respectively. As best shown in
The two sides 12 and 14 are held together by hinge 16, which is a generally 6-inch wide fleece backed butyl tape which is attached to the bottom surface 56 of the first and second sides 12 and 14. Tape/hinge 16 is wide enough to contact all of the panels, holding them together hinged along their long sloped edge 20 with the central points 18 from each side adjacent each other.
The individual panels 28, 30 and 32 of the sump are formed from a foamed board 65 which has a slope, i.e., its thickness decreases from one edge to an opposite edge. The top side 13 is sloped, whereas the bottom side 11 is flat. The foam board 65 has a long dimension and a short dimension. Generally it will be 4 feet by 8 feet, with the board sloping from the first long edge, or the thick long edge, 68, to the second long edge, or thin long edge, 70. As shown in
As shown in
Side panels 30 and 32 can also be formed from a 4×4 sloped panel and cutting diagonally from a left thick corner to a right thin corner for panel 30, and from a right thick corner to a left thin corner for panel 32.
Each side 12 and 14 is formed by taping the side panels 30,32 to the central panel 28. The tape 52,54 is applied to the bottom surface 11. Panels 30 and 32 are reversed on the sides 10 and 12. As shown in
In use on a roof, the folded sump 10, as shown in
Thus, as shown the sump 10 of the present invention facilitates installation of a flat roof, significantly reducing installation time. Also, it requires relatively little experience to properly install the sump. This will reduce the time and cost of installing a flat membrane roof and ensure proper installation.
This has been a description of the present invention along with the preferred method of practicing the present invention. However, the invention itself should only be defined by the appended claims.
