AU2005248957A1 - Valley Tray - Google Patents

Description

1

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: RODNEY GEORGE WADE RODNEY GEORGE WADE CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, Qld. 4000, Australia.

VALLEY TRAY The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: o VALLEY TRAY ci .BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to plumbing structures ci 5 for roof valleys and in particular to trays or gutters for lining roof valleys.

h A roof valley is the region where two inclined

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0roofs meet. This region has a substantially V-shaped cross-sectional configuration and generally slopes in one direction toward the edge of the building. A metal tray or gutter is located in the roof valley to collect water flowing from the roof cladding and to direct the water to a roof gutter or outlet. In order to prevent water penetration under the roof cladding and into the ceiling cavity, the valley tray is provided with upturned edges and the roof cladding is arranged to extend as far as practical toward the axis of the valley tray to provide maximum overlap. Typically this results in the lower edges of the cladding of each inclined roof being separated from one another by some 40 to 120 mm. Such an arrangement is quite adequate for roofs which collect pure rainwater. However, in practice, it is not typical for rooves to collect only rainwater they also provide a suitable catchment area for a wide range of debris, particularly leaves and twigs from surrounding trees.

Such debris gets caught up in the flowing water and ends up in the "hang up" zone. This is the zone between the lower edges of the roof cladding and the valley tray.

This can lead to a build up of water on the valley tray and a backflow over the upturned edges of the valley tray onto the roof frame and into the building.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a roof valley tray or gutter which addresses this problem or at the very least provides the public with a useful alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a roof valley tray having a substantially pani 5 shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration with upturned longitudinal edges, said tray being characterized by a pair of longitudinally extending (see claim 1).

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0 DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Generally, the arrangement will be such that o the longitudinally extending ridges will have apices which, in situ, are adjacent to the bottom edges of the roof cladding. This will enable the bottom edges of the roof cladding to be separated by some 200 mm, that is, about twice the normal separation to thereby eliminate the "hang up" zone.

The addition of the ridges creates a double seal/water penetration barrier. In steeply pitched roofs (with a standard folded lip) during heavy down-pours of rain, water can and does flow over the existing up turns of conventional arrangements, and floods the building.

This occurs especially if debris is hung up in the valley thus impeding the flow of water. The double seal/water penetration barrier formed by the present invention avoids any possibility of flooding.

The pan-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration of the valley tray can be formed by folding a flat strip of galvanised iron, copper or zincalume, along a mid-longitudinal axis so as to produce a sharp fold line, as is typical in known valley trays, thereby giving a low profile V-configuration, or it can be formed by roll-forming so as to produce a smooth curve.

Similarly, the longitudinally extending ridges can either be formed as sharp fold lines along the length of the tray so that in cross-section they have a o triangular configuration, or they can be rolled to form a ci curved configuration like the ridge in a sheet of corrugated iron.

C 5 The roof valley tray is suitable for use with both metal and tiled rooves and can be provided in a variety of sizes to suit different roof pitches. A set h of standard sizes will typically be provided for standard 00 y pitches. The sizes will generally only differ in the Ci height of the ridges. The higher/thicker the valley o boards/support, the lower the ridges and vice versa.

Ci There is a correlation between the purlin/batten height and the valley boards/support which determines the height of the ridges.

As a modification to the roof valley tray described above, means can be provided to vermin proof any gaps between the ridges of the valley tray and the roof cladding. Although these gaps are theoretically non-existent to the extent that the underside of the roof cladding is intended to contact the ridges, in practice, and particularly in the case of corrugated iron roof cladding, there is always a certain amount of disconformity leading to gaps where creatures such as small snakes, mice and the like can squeeze through. The vermin proofing means comprises a flashing in the form of a comb which is fitted to the longitudinally extending ridges of the tray so as to project above the ridges.

The comb is fabricated so as to be deformable so that when the roof cladding is laid down on it, the flutes of the comb deform to the profile of the cladding, and point towards the centre axis of the valley tray.

The comb can be made out of the same type of metal as the valley tray but will generally be of significantly lesser gauge to enable ready deformation during placement of the cladding. The comb will typically comprise a planar band from which a plurality V 0 o of triangular shaped planar flutes project. The comb ci will be adapted for fixing to the side of each ridge of the tray by securing the band with waterproof class three fixings which are screws, rivets or the like. Preferably Ci 5 it is fitted to the upside face of the ridges with the flutes extending beyond the edge thereof.

h BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 00

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y Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of ci a prior art roof valley, tray and cladding, 0 Ci Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a roof valley, cladding and tray according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a plan view of a comb according to another aspect of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a partial schematic cross-sectional view of the comb of Figure 3 fitted to the tray of Figure 2.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in all of which like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, the roof section depicted consists of a valley rafter 10, roofing rafters 11, 12, valley boards/valley supports 13, 14, purlins, 16, roof cladding 17, 18, and a valley tray 19.

The valley tray. comprises a longitudinally folded sheet of galvanized steel or the like having inwardly bent edges 21, 22 to prevent water entering the roof cavity and flooding the building. The valley tray 19 is overlaid by the roof cladding 17, 18 to the greatest possible extent so as to prevent water splashing 0 over the bend edges 21, 22. This leaves a separation "A" ci o between the two sheets of roof cladding 17, 18 of about 100 mm. (Typically, in practice this will vary between about 40 mm and 120 mm). The combination of the cavity between the roof cladding 17, 18 and the valley tray 19, and the relatively small separation of the edges of Sthe roof cladding from one another, creates a "hang up"

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00 zone in which leaves and other debris can easily be Ci trapped and this ultimately leads to water breaching the o 10 ends 21, 22 of the valley tray and entering the building.

ci This problem is overcome by the valley tray depicted in Figure 2. This valley tray 20 has a similar basic structure to the valley tray 19 depicted in Figure 1 but, in addition, it includes two longitudinally extending ridges 23, 24 press-formed therein which contact the undersurface of the lower ends of the roof cladding 17, 18, and therefore permit the ends of the cladding to be separated from one another by a greater amount than is in the case shown in Figure 1. This separation can be of the order of 200 mm. This wider separation, along with the absence of an underlying cavity, means that there is no place for debris to be trapped, ie. there is no "hang up" zone, thereby preventing the water overflow problem of the prior art arrangement.

Figure 3 shows a section of a comb 30 which can be fitted to a ridges 23, 24 of the valley tray 20. The comb 30 is fabricated from thin gauge galvanized steel and includes a planar band 31 and a plurality of triangularly shaped planar flutes 32. The width of the comb is suitably about 45 mm and the length of the flutes is suitably about 25 mm. Holes 33 are provided to enable screw attachment to the upside of a ridge 40 as shown in Figure 4 at the position marked tt) 7 o When in situ, the flutes 32 will bend in the ci direction indicated by the arrow by different amounts so that any gaps between the roof cladding 17, 18 and the C top of the ridges 21, 22 will be effectively sealed Ci 5 against the intrusion of vermin and at the same time creating a third water barrier.

In h Whilst the above has been given by way of

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0 illustrative example of the invention, many modifications q 10 and variation may be made thereto by persons skilled in the Sart without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the A invention as herein set forth.

Claims (9)

1. A roof valley tray having a substantially pan- shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration of low profile with up-turned longitudinal edges, said tray C 5 being characterised by a pair of longitudinally extending ridges, one of which ridges is located between the mid- 0 longitudinal axis of the tray and one of the up-turned C longitudinal edges, and the other of which ridges is OC 0 located between the mid-longitudinal axis of the tray and 1q 0 the other of the up-turned longitudinal edges, said Sridges being of such a height as to contact the underside Ci of adjacent roof cladding when in situ.

2. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 1, wherein each longitudinally extending ridge is located adjacent a respective up-turned longitudinal edge of the tray.

3. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the valley tray has a substantially V- shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration of low profile.

4. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the valley tray has a substantially curved transverse cross-sectional configuration. A roof valley tray as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ridges have a substantially triangular cross-sectional configuration.

6. A roof valley tray as claimed in any one of claims 1-4, wherein the ridges have curved cross- sectional configuration.

7. A roof valley tray as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and including flashings fitted to the longitudinally extending ridges so as to extend, in situ, U 9 o beyond the height of the ridges. ci U

8. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 7, wherein the flashings extend the full length of the C 5 ridges. S9. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 7 or C claim 8, wherein the flashings are in the form of a comb OO 00 having a plurality of flutes which flutes are deformable ci 10 to conform with the profile of roof cladding laid thereon. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 9, wherein the comb comprises a planar band from which a plurality of triangular shaped planar flutes project.

11. A roof valley tray as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the comb is adapted for fitting to the upside face of the ridges with the flutes extending beyond the edge thereof, in situ.

12. A roof valley tray substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 2 and/or Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this 29th day of December 2005 RODNEY GEORGE WADE By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.