IE48511B1 - Insulating corrugated structural members and methods for their manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

An insulating corrugated member comprises sheets 10, 11 having identical corrugations, the sheet 11 being of a thermoplastics material and having its edges 12 turned down so as to lie close to adjacent portions of the sheet 10. The edges 12 are adhesively secured to the sheet 10. The sheet 11 has its edges 12 formed by vacuum moulding on a mould which is prepared using as a template a sheet having corrugations identical to those of the sheets 10, 11. Preferably both sheets are of transparent thermo-plastics material and a plurality of sheets 11 are spaced along the sheet 10, the spaces 14 receiving purlins.

Description

Tliis invention relates to insulating corrugated structural members, and to methods for their manufacture.

It is known to use corrugated sheets as roof or wall members on buildings. It may be required to provide insulation on buildings so constructed, and it has hitherto been the practice to provide a separate insulating layer which is secured to, or spaced from, the aforesaid corrugated sheet.

It is an object of the present invention to provide corrugated structional members which do not require the attachment of a separate insulating layer during construction of a building.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an insulating corrugated structural member which is transparent or translucent, and may thus be used as a building light.

According to the invention an insulating corrugated structural member comprises first and second sheets which have substantially identical corrugations, one of said sheets being of a thermoplastic material and having its edges turned up so as to engage the other of said sheets and to maintain said sheets in spaced substantially parallel relationship, the edges of said one sheet being secured to said other sheet.

According to another aspect of the invention a method of manufacturing an insulating corrugated, structural member as above defined includes the steps of using as a template a sheet having corrugations substantially identical to those of said first and second sheets, said template being used to prepare a mould for said one sheet, heating the edges of said one sheet and forming said heated edges on said mould by application of a differential gas pressure to opposite 48S1 1 -3sides of said one sheet· Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a section, in the direction of arrow 1 in Figure 2, through an insulating corrugated panel, Figure 2, is a plan view, to a smaller scale, of the panel of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view on arrow 3 in Figure 2.

In the example the panel is intended as a roof light, and comprises a sheet 10 of transparent corrugated thermoplastics material, and a plurality of sheets 11, also transparent thermo-plastics material, and having corrugations identical with those of the sheet 10. The widths of the sheets 11 are substantially equal to that of the sheet 10, as shown in Figure 1, and the lengths of the sheets 11 are such that a plurality of the sheets 11 may be spaced lengthwise of the sheet 10, as shown in Figures 2 and 3· The edges of the sheets 11 are turned up as shown at 12 in Figure 1 and at 13 in Figure 3 so that when the corrugations of the sheets 10, 11 are aligned, as shown in Figure 1, the turned-up edges of the sheets 11 have outwardly-turned portions whioh engage the sheet 10 and maintain the sheets 10, 11 in spaced parallel relationship.

The edges of the sheets 11 are adhesively secured to the sheet 10. The outwardly-turned portions of the edges of the sheets 11 thus lie close to adjacent portions of the sheet 10 and, by extending up to those edges of the sheet 10 which are parallel to the corrugations, provide reinforced edges 15 for the panel as a whole. Adhesion may be effected by application of a suitable adhesive material or by thermal bonding. If desired the sheets 10, 11 may be secured together so as to hermetically seal the space -4between them. Alternatively openings may be provided to permit drainage or drying of any condensate in the space between the sheets.

The panels may conveniently be made from commercially available corrugated sheet, and the sheet 10 is, in effect, such a commercially-available sheet.

The edges of the sheets 11 are turned up by known processes of vacuum moulding or blow moulding, the sheet edges being previously heated to a temperature at which they may readily be formed. A forming mould may conveniently be made from glass fibre reinforced plastics material, the corrugations in the mould being provided by using as a template sections of a basic sheet having the same corrugations as sheets 10, 11. Moulds of any desired size may readily be provided, up to the maximum available size of the sheet 10, the sheets 11 being cut to size before their edges are turned up.

The lengths of the sheets 11 are determined, in the present example, by the desired locations of the spaces lA between them, these spaces 14 being provided to accommodate the purlins of a roof to which the panel is applied. It will thus be apparent that, in use, the sheet 10 is uppermost on the panel, which can therefore shed water freely.

In use the side edges 15 of the panel may be arranged so as ro overlap adjoining panels, these adjoining panels being either standard corrugated sheets or insulating panels according to the present invention. In the latter case the sheet 11 nay be formed so that the insulating space between the sheets extends close to one side edge 15 of the sheet 10, whereby the insulating effect will be substantially continuous over the roof surface. Alternatively, panels as shown in Figure 1 may be assembled alternatively with panels in which the insulating space extends close to both 4851 1 -5edges 15 of tlie sheet 10.

In an alternative embodiment the panels may be formed of opaque sheets, in which case the space between the sheets may be filled with a suitable insulating material as for example rock wool or glass wool.

In a further alternative embodiment the sheet 10 is of a material other than thermoplastics, for example resinbonded glass fibre.

It will be apparent that the panels may be made from 10 sheet which is corrugated in ways other than the generally sinusoidal form shown in Figure 1. Such sheets are well known and are readily commercially available. The above described use of a basic sheet as a template to produce the required edge-forming mould enables any readily available sheet to be used for the described insulating panels. 4851 1

Claims (9)

1. CLAIMS:1. A method of manufacturing an insulating structural member from two sheets which have previously been formed with substantially identical corrugations, one of said 5 sheets being of a thermoplastic material, said method comprising deforming said one sheet only so that the outer portions thereof are displaced from the plane of the remainder of said one sheet, and securing the corrugations on said outer portions to the other sheet, so that the corrugations on the 10 remainder of said one sheet are maintained in substantially parallel spaced relationship with the corrugations on said other sheet.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 which includes using as a template a sheet having corrugations which are substantially 15 identical with those of said two sheets, said template being used to prepare a mould, locating said one sheet on said mould and forming said one sheet on said mould.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which said mould is prepared from fibrereinforced plastics material. 2q

4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which said one sheet is formed by application of a differential gas pressure to opposite sides of said one sheet.

5. A structural member when formed by any one of the methods of claims 1 to 4. -76. A structural member as claimed in claim 5 in which the outer portions of said one sheet which lie parallel to the corrugations thereon, extend outwardly to the edges of the corresponding portions of said other sheet. 5 7. A structural member as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 in which both of said sheets are of a light-transmitting material.

6. 8. A structural member as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 in which a solid insulating material is provided in the 10 space between said sheets.

7. 9. A structural member as claimed in any of claims 5 to 8 the parts of said sheets adjacent the edges thereof which are parallel to the corrugations thereon being inclined towards the side of said structural member on which said 15 one sheet lies.

8. 10. A method of manufacturing an insulating structural member, substantially as hereinbefore described.

9. 11. An insulating structural member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying 20 drawings.