The present disclosure generally relates to fasteners for installation of roofing panels and/or other roofing materials, and more specifically, to self-sealing fasteners that release a sealing material to seal the penetration areas about the fasteners against penetration of moisture.
The construction of roofs generally requires fasteners to be driven through roofing materials, including roofing panels, roof membranes or liners and into a supporting decking. Installation of such fasteners consequently creates penetrations through the roofing materials at the locations where the fasteners are driven therethrough. Most roofing membranes or liners will resist water penetration except at the holes or penetration sites created by the fasteners, which holes enable water to migrate through the roofing materials and can pool and collect beneath the roof panels and decking. Such pooling or collection of water in turn can cause mildew, warping and rotting of the roof deck. Coatings or other, similar adhesive materials, such as petroleum tar, have been used in the past to coat and seal the roofing materials at such holes or penetrations. However, application of such sealing materials generally requires additional labor with such sealing materials generally being applied manually, which can also lead to inconsistent application of the sealing materials and/or excess or waste of the materials during application.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a self-sealing fastener for installation of roofing materials that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.
A self-sealing roofing fastener design is provided. The self-sealing roofing fastener, in one embodiment, includes a fastener plate having a fastener, such as a screw, nail or other, similar fastener. The fastener plate will include a fastener cap defining an opening through which the fastener can be received, and a sealant material. The sealant material can be contained within a pocket or encapsulate structure that can be mounted below the fastener cap. For example, the sealant encapsulate structure generally will be located between a roofing panel or roof membrane or liner and the fastener cap. The sealant encapsulate structure can be of various different sizes and/or configurations, and, in some embodiments, can be positioned or selectively located and installed beneath the fastener cap separately from the fastener cap.
As the fastener is engaged and driven through the opening of the fastener cap, it will pierce the pocket or the sealant encapsulate structure, releasing the sealant material. The sealant material generally will spread and/or flow within the space beneath the fastener cap, including flowing into the hole or penetration opening created by the fastener as it penetrates through the roofing panel or roof membrane or liner and into the roof deck.
In one embodiment, the sealant material can include an adhesive or other, similar sealing material in the form of a liquid or gel that will easily spread or flow when released, and will be substantially fast-curing. In other embodiments, the sealant material can include multiple sealing materials such as, for example, a cross-linking sealant system having a reactive component material and a catalyst component material that react when mixed to create a substantially water-tight seal about the fastener and penetration opening or hole.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, an agitation or stirring mechanism, or other, similar device configured to engage and facilitate the spreading of the sealant material also can be provided. The agitation mechanism generally will be arranged below the fastener cap in a position to be engaged by the fastener and urged into contact with the sealant material to help spread or urge the sealant material within the space under the fastener cap and into the penetration opening. In addition, spacers also can be provided to support the sealant encapsulate structure in a position spaced above the roofing deck.
The foregoing and various other features, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be further understood upon a review the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements. As those skilled in the art also will appreciate and understand, the dimensions of various features and elements of the drawings may be expanded and/or reduced to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure as described herein. Accordingly, embodiments incorporating the teachings of the present disclosure are shown and described below with respect to the drawings, in which:
The following description taken in combination with the accompanying drawing figures is provided to assist in the understanding of the teachings disclosed herein. The description is focused on implementations and embodiments of the present disclosure, and is provided to assist in describing such teachings. The focus should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of the present disclosure.
Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views,
The self-sealing roof fastener 10 can be located on top of the roof panel 12, with a series of self-sealing roof fasteners generally being arranged at spaced locations along each roof panel. As generally illustrated in
A sealant material 25 will be enclosed or encapsulated within a pocket, packet or other encapsulate structure 26 that is mounted below the fastener cap. Typically, the sealant encapsulate structure or pocket will be located below a lower surface of the fastener cap, for example, being arranged between an upper surface of the roof panel 12 and the lower surface of the fastener cap, such as generally illustrated in
The sealant material contained within the sealant encapsulate generally can include an adhesive or other known roofing sealant material that will be provided in a liquid or gel form within the sealant encapsulate. The sealant material further generally can include a fast-drying or fast-curing adhesive or sealant that, upon initially being released from the encapsulate, can flow or spread as needed to substantially cover and seal the space 27 beneath the fastener cap, as well as flowing into and substantially sealing the penetration hole 28 (
In an additional embodiment, multiple sealant materials can be used, for example, being separated into and enclosed within multiple chambers of the encapsulate or packet. For example, the sealant material can comprise a two-part cross-linking system with a reactant material stored in a first chamber and a catalyst material stored in a secondary chamber within the sealant encapsulate or packet, with both being released upon engagement and penetration through the sealant encapsulate by the fastener.
As a further alternative, the separate adhesive or sealant materials each can be enclosed within their own sealant encapsulate or packet; e.g. a first sealant encapsulate with a first sealant material therein can be placed adjacent or on top of a second sealant encapsulate having a second sealant material therein. As the fastener penetrates the sealant encapsulates, the sealant materials can flow and mix together, creating a reaction which causes the mixed or combined sealant materials to cure upon flowing into and throughout the space below the fastener cap and into any penetration holes or openings created by the fastener to form a substantially watertight seal. By way of example, two component or 2K sealant materials can be used, including 2K adhesive or sealant systems such as Elastuff® Urethane coatings, M-Thane™ two part urethane sealants or LRF polyurethane foam adhesives, available from GAF of Parsippany, NJ., United Coatings™ PMMA flashing resin available from GAF of Parsippany, NJ, as well as various epoxy sealants, and/or addition cure 2K silicone sealants. Other sealant or adhesive materials also can be used.
The released sealant material accordingly generally will be confined within the fastener cap and contained within the space below the fastener cap and by the center plate and periphery thereof. Further, the use and location of the sealant encapsulate enables a substantially consistent placement of a desired/measured amount of sealant material to be directed through and around the penetration hole or opening created by the fastener to help ensure the penetration hole is sealed and to avoid excess or waste of sealant materials during application. The amount of sealant material included can be determined according to the size of the fastener cap (e.g., the area under the fastener cap to be covered by the sealant material) and a desired thickness of the sealant material to form a watertight seal on the roof panel and about the fastener. In some applications, the volume of sealant material can range from 1 mL to 50 mL, though any other suitable volume, including greater or lesser volumes, also can be used. For example, in some applications, the volume of sealant material can range from 1 mL to 40 mL, about 1 mL to 30 mL, 1 mL to 20 mL, or about 1 mL to 10 mL. In other embodiments, the volume of sealant can range from 5 mL to 50 mL, 5 mL to 45 mL, 5 mL to 35 mL, 5 mL to 25 mL, 5 mL to 15 mL, or 5 mL to 10 mL. In still other applications, the volume of sealant material can range from 10 mL to 50 mL, 10 mL to 40 mL, 10 mL to 30 mL, or 10 mL to 20 mL. In addition, the fastener cap further can be provided with openings or passages, as indicated at 29, to facilitate the passage of air through the fastener cap and into contact with the sealant material to promote the drying and moisture curing process of the sealant material.
In addition, as also shown in
In other embodiments, such as illustrated in
The self-sealing roof fastener of the present disclosure has been described above in terms of preferred embodiments and constructions. It will be understood by the skilled artisan, however, that a wide range of additions, deletions and modifications can be made to the disclosed example embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure.
The present Patent Application is a continuation of previously filed, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/030,956, filed Sep. 24, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/907,996 filed on Sep. 30, 2019. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/030,956, filed Sep. 24, 2020, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/907,996, filed Sep. 30, 2019, are specifically incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in their entireties.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2616283 | Branstrator et al. | Nov 1952 | A |
2666354 | Dim et al. | Jan 1954 | A |
3750523 | Fujita | Aug 1973 | A |
4442148 | Stierli | Apr 1984 | A |
5082412 | Thomas | Jan 1992 | A |
5304023 | Toback et al. | Apr 1994 | A |
5472241 | Kosik, Jr. et al. | Dec 1995 | A |
5647178 | Cline | Jul 1997 | A |
5784846 | Godschalx | Jul 1998 | A |
5786085 | Tzeng et al. | Jul 1998 | A |
5873201 | Fey | Feb 1999 | A |
5979133 | Funkhouser | Nov 1999 | A |
6228785 | Miller et al. | May 2001 | B1 |
6282858 | Swick | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6341462 | Kiik et al. | Jan 2002 | B2 |
6536729 | Haddock | Mar 2003 | B1 |
6709994 | Miller et al. | Mar 2004 | B2 |
6773791 | Ruggie et al. | Aug 2004 | B1 |
D501052 | Yang et al. | Jan 2005 | S |
7132151 | Rasmussen | Nov 2006 | B2 |
7329077 | Curtis | Feb 2008 | B2 |
7685785 | Johnson | Mar 2010 | B2 |
7833338 | Whitaker et al. | Nov 2010 | B2 |
8266861 | Koch et al. | Sep 2012 | B2 |
8424821 | Liu | Apr 2013 | B2 |
8689517 | Schaefer et al. | Apr 2014 | B2 |
8920088 | Garvin | Dec 2014 | B1 |
9010058 | DeJarnette et al. | Apr 2015 | B2 |
9912284 | Svec | Mar 2018 | B2 |
9995333 | McPheeters | Jun 2018 | B2 |
10291176 | Wentworth et al. | May 2019 | B2 |
11085189 | Zheng et al. | Aug 2021 | B2 |
11428009 | Zheng et al. | Aug 2022 | B2 |
20020032000 | Lawless, III et al. | Mar 2002 | A1 |
20020076525 | Fensel et al. | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20020078651 | Freshwater et al. | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20070079865 | Warfield et al. | Apr 2007 | A1 |
20110223410 | Gencer et al. | Sep 2011 | A1 |
20120138570 | Millward et al. | Jun 2012 | A1 |
20120186722 | Lennox et al. | Jul 2012 | A1 |
20120266559 | Thies, III | Oct 2012 | A1 |
20130025224 | Vermilion et al. | Jan 2013 | A1 |
20140349072 | Hong et al. | Nov 2014 | A1 |
20150047285 | Dejarnette et al. | Feb 2015 | A1 |
20150082722 | Kalkanoglu et al. | Mar 2015 | A1 |
20160333591 | Polumbus | Nov 2016 | A1 |
20180087558 | Feldmann et al. | Mar 2018 | A1 |
20180320368 | Gonzales et al. | Nov 2018 | A1 |
20190301509 | Philip | Oct 2019 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
109563867 | Jan 2021 | CN |
2855743 | Jul 1980 | DE |
1002681 | May 2000 | EP |
26626646 | Nov 2013 | EP |
WO2012153246 | Nov 2012 | WO |
Entry |
---|
EBAY; https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-4-Solar-Self-Seal-Roof-Mounting-Brackets-Unistrut-Superstrut-Rail-standoffs-/151271225082; 4) 4+ Solar Self Seal Roof Mounting Brackets Unistrut/Superstrut Rail Standoffs; available prior to Sep. 30, 2019. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20230243155 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62907996 | Sep 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 17030956 | Sep 2020 | US |
Child | 17896674 | US |