FR2660001A1 - Safety device for roofing tiles - Google Patents

Abstract

Safety device for fixing long-stringed gutter tiles equipped with longitudinal channels on the underlying laths of the roof frame, characterised in that it consists of a hook (8) made of steel spring wire having a beak (99) intended to fit on the channel (7) of the said tile (1), a vertical part (10) of a length substantially equal to the distance between the top of the tile (1a) and the bottom of the lath (2), a part folded at a right-angle (11) with respect to the said vertical part (10), a part raised obliquely upwards (12) connecting to the above part (11) and ended in a loop (13).

Description

SECURITY DEVICE FOR COVERING TILES
The invention relates to roof tiles and pls particularly the means of preventing said tiles from being accidentally lifted from the frame on which they are laid, and from being torn from them in particular during gusts or storms;
We know that the laying of the roof is carried out by placing on wooden or metal slats fixed to the rafters of the frame, the successive tiles, these being on the one hand hung on a slat by a boss present near the upper end of their lower faee, on the other hand supported by their lower end on the top of the tile immediately below, and thirdly hooked to each other in the transverse direction by interlocking grooves longitudinal forming water gutters.

 The weight of the assembly is sufficient to ensure the holding of the roof under the usual meteorological conditions. However, as soon as the wind strength exceeds these normal conditions, the risk of the tiles rising will increase considerably. Recent storms have shown the damaging consequences of this state of affairs, leading not only to very costly disasters, but also to the safety of those with many injured and dead.

 It has been proposed to improve the resistance of the tiles on the frame by fixing them to the slats with a nail crossing their @boss according to a hole made for this purpose in said boss. But this operation is difficult to implement because, the lattice being set back from the edge of the tile, it is very difficult to plant the point under the tile. In addition it is of little effectiveness because in case of lifting the tile pivots around the generatrix formed by the angle of the lattice, that is to say in the vicinity of the point so that the torque opposing the lifting force is very low, if not practically zero.

 We have also proposed a device for blocking the tiles on the frame consisting of a network of rods fixed under the lath and associated with jumpers have the hooks cooperate with a tie of said network and with the longitudinal gutters of the edges of the tile. But the realization of this device is expensive, considerably increases the cost of installation, and is unsightly when viewed from the roof.

 An example of such a device is shown schematically in Figure 1, in which two successive tiles 1a, 1b are arranged on slats 2a, 2b of the lattice fixed on the frame (not shown). The tiles 1a, 1b are supported on the slats 2a, 2b by their bosses 3a, 3b which include the holes 4a, 4b for the passage of the points mentioned above. Under the slats are fixed rods 5 on which are fitted one of the hooks of the jumpers 6, the opposite hook coming to fit on the rim 7 of the gutter of the tile la.

It can be seen that, the vertical distance between the rod 5 and the tile going upwards increasing downwards, the sliding of the jumper 6 downwards blocks the tile relative to the slats.

 The invention aims to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks of this fixing device and to provide means which, while ensuring extremely effective fixing of the tile on the frame, by practically eliminating any risk of tearing, which is inexpensive to manufacture and very simple to install so that their impact on the cost price of a roof is practically negligible.

 The invention is embodied by a hook made of -esso steel wire comprising a spout, which before laying is in the general plane of the hook and after laying in a plane forming a right angle with said general plane, a part vertical substantially equal to the height between the upper edge of a tile and the base of a slat, a curved part at right angles to said vertical part and ehe to adapt under the edge of a slat, and a part curved obliquely upwards with respect to the previous one and finished in a loop intended to allow easy sliding of the hook under the batten (in the figures the rest position of the hook is represented by dotted lines) and come to bear on the front vertical face of a slat.

 We understand that the installation of such a hook can be done in a jiffy: it suffices to adapt the beak of the hook according to the invention on the edge of the gutter of the adjacent tile, then to twist at right angles the rest of the hook and forcefully place its terminal end in abutment against the underlying slat to fix the tile firmly to the frame.

In addition to its ability to fix the tile to the frame, the hook according to the invention provides a considerable increase in resistance to wind resistance.
Indeed, when the wind begins to lift a tile, the wind resistance is increased as well as the pressure under the tile. This results in a greater lifting effort.

 However, the resistance of a spring hook according to the invention increases with its elongation. When a tile with such a hook is lifted by the wind, the hook is stretched upwards, the distance between the slat and the tile increases and the resistance of the hook also increases.

 There is automatically alignment of the pullout resistance with the lifting force and return to the equilibrium position.

 Mass production of such a hook is particularly simple and inexpensive.

 According to an advantageous embodiment, the hook according to the invention comprises, between its vertical part and its part folded at a right angle, a transition part obliquely downward intended to make up for the difference in alignment between the upper edge of a tile. and the underlying slat.

 According to another equally advantageous embodiment, the hook according to the invention comprises, before its party folded at right angles, a loop allowing greater deformation of the hook and consequently increasing the possibilities of adaptation of the latter to the many different types of tiles. existing on the market.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description below of nonlimiting examples of embodiments of the invention with reference to the appended drawings in which
FIG. 2 is a schematic view in partial longitudinal section of a hook according to the invention in a first embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a partial section along the line II-II of FIG. 2 2,
Figure 4 is a schematic view similar to Figure 2 of a hook according to the invention in a second embodiment
Figure 5 is a schematic view similar to Figure l of a third embodiment of a hook 1 according to the invention.

 In these figures, the hook is represented by the reference 8, its beak by the reference 9. 10 is the vertical part of the hook, ll its perpendicular part passing under the slat, 12 the part raised obliquely upwards, 13 the part looped end, 14 the intermediate part oblique downwards between the vertical part and the perpendicular part (Figures 4 and 5), 15 the looped part before the perpendicular part (Figure 5. The parts identical to those of Figure l have the same references.

 As can be seen in the figures, after fitting the beak 9 of the hook 8 is in a plane perpendicular to the general plane of the hook, while during manufacture it was in the same plane. But it is possible without departing from the scope of the invention to manufacture the hook with its beak directly in the service position. However, in addition to the simplification resulting from manufacturing in a single plane, this arrangement is advantageous in that it provides a blocking of the spout on the gutter of the tile in service.

 Furthermore, the cross section of the spring steel wire to be used can remain small (of the order of 1.7 mm in diameter) while providing a very high pull-out resistance. This not only results in an extremely low manufacturing cost, but also the hook according to the invention is hardly visible in service.

 When laying a new roof, after placing each tile, the operator places the beak 9 of the hook 8 in the gutter 7 of the tile la, then, in the same movement, rotates the hook and hangs on the underlying slat. One hook per tile is required and each subsequent tile covers the spout so that the hook is invisible from the outside.

 The hook according to the invention is also very easy to adapt to an existing roof: it suffices to lift each tile individually to slide the beak of the hook, then to hang the tail of the latter under the underlying slat.

 Preferably the hook according to the invention is made of round spring steel wire, but, without departing from the scope of the invention, it can also be made of flat wire.

Claims (4)

R NDICATIONS  1. Safety device for fixing mechanical tiles provided with longitudinal gutters to the underlying slats of the roof structure, characterized in that it consists of a hook (8) made of spring steel wire comprising a beak (9), intended to fit on the gutter (7) of said tile (1), a vertical part (10) of length substantially equal to the distance between the top of the tile (la) and the bottom of the slat (2), a part folded at a right angle (11) relative to said vertical part (10), a part raised obliquely upwards (12) connecting to the previous one (11) and ending in a loop (13 ).  2. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises an intermediate part oblique downwards (14) between the vertical part (10) and the folded part at right angles (11).  3. Device according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that it comprises a loop (15) in front of its folded part at right angles (11).  4. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that it is manufactured with its spout (9) in the same plane as the rest of the device.