Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR APPLYING AN ELONGATED BODY OF A
PASTE-~IRE SEALANT TO AN OUTER ROOFING SURFACE
The present invention relates to a method of applying an
elongated body of a paste-like, sticky sealant to an outer
roofing surface.
When a roof is made up by roofing tiles or other roofing
elements it is well known to use a paste-like, sticky
sealant or compound, which is sandwiched between overlap-
ping parts of adjacent roofing elements so as to seal the
space therebetween. As an example, strips or strings of a
sticky sealant may be applied to a roofing surface and
sandwiched between such surface and overlapping portions of
a ridge tile or ridge element, for example as that dis-
closed in Danish patent No. 149,930, so as to obtain a
wind-tight joint.
Conventionally, the paste-like sealant is delivered as a
coherent mass contained in a plastic bag, and strips or
strings having a suitable cross-sectional size and shape
are cut from the coherent mass by means of a cutting hand
tool. Thereafter, the sticky mass is manually applied to
the roofing surface and pressed into contact therewith,
before a ridge tile or another roofing element is placed in
a position in which it overlaps the sealant string. Because
of its sticky nature the sealant adheres to any surface
with which it comes into contact, including the hands of
the workers or builders applying the sealant. Therefore,
the use of such sticky sealant is not only time consuming,
but also very unpleasant.
The present invention provides a method by means of which
an elongated body, such as a strip or string of a paste-
like sticky sealant, may be applied to an outer roofing
surface in a manner which is less time consuming and less
unpleasant.
729657E~A.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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The present invention provides a method of applying an
elongated body of a paste-like, sticky sealant to an outer
roofing surface, said method comprising applying cover
sheet material to at least a pair of opposite side surface
parts of the elongated sealant body, gripping said opposite
side surface parts and pressing an exposed side surface
part of the sealant body into adhering contact with the
outer roofing surface, removing the cover sheet material
from the sealant body, and sandwiching the sealant body
between the roofing surface and a roofing element.
The cover sheet material may be applied to the side surface
parts of the sealant body immediately prior to gripping
said body. Alternatively, the elongated sealant body or
strip may be cut from a flat layer of a sealant composition
having its opposite side surface parts covered with sheet
material, such as paper or plastic material. However, the
stickv s~lant mass is preferably delivered to the builder
or consumer in the form of elongated sealant bodies or
strips having opposite side surfaces provided with cover
sheet materials and ready for use. This means, that no time
~or cutting and preparation o~ the elongated sealant body
or strip should be spent at the building site, and the
sealant material may be gripped and applied manually or by
means of a gripping apparatus without smudging the hands of
the builder or the apparatus with the sticky sealant. Since
the elongated sealant bodies may be delivered ready for
use, the method according to the invention may be conside-
rably time saving compared to the conventional method.
The elongated sealant body may be applied not only to a
plane roofing surface, but to a roofing surface of any
profile or cross-sectional shape. As an example, the roof-
ing surface may be corrugated, and in such case the elon-
gated sealant body may be applied transversely to the
corrugations of the roofing surface. The sealant body
should then be pressed towards the roofing surface so as to
establish adhering contact between the sealant body and the
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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roofing surface in substantially the full length of the
sealant body. This may be obtained by deforming the sealant
body to comply with the shape of the roofing~surface, or
the elongated sealant body may be prefabricated with a
contact surface having a shape, which is substantially
complementary to the shape of the roofing surface.
The sealant body may be sandwiched between a roofing sur-
face defined by roofing elements, such as roofing tiles,
and a further roofing element. Such further roofing ele-
ment, may, for example, be a ridge element of any type,such as a ridge element as that disclosed in Danish patent
No. 149,930.
The cover sheet material may be any sheet material which is
substantially impermeable to the sticky sealant and to any
components thereof. Preferably, the sheet material is of a
type which may relatively easily be removed from the elon-
gated body of sticky sealant when the sealant has been
applied to the roofing surface. This means that the cover
sheet material should not adhere too strongly to the sea-
lant. Therefore, some kind of release means, such as anadherence reducing powder, could be applied to the opposite
side surface parts of the sealant body prior to applying
the cover sheet material thereto. It has been found, how-
ever, that a film of foamed plastic, such as a film of
foamed polyethylene, may relatively easily be stripped from
the sealant body when it has been applied to the roofing
surface. Other types of sheet material that could be con-
templated are sheets of non-woven material, such as non-
woven sheets made from polyethylene or polypropylene fibres
or of heat-bondable bicomponent fibres or mixtures thereof.
The present invention also provides an elongated body of a
paste-like, sticky sealant-for use in the method described
above, at least a pair of opposite side surface parts of
the sealant being covered by sheet material.
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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The sealant body may have any cross-sectional shape. Prefe-
rably, however, such cross-section is rectangular, and
three side surfaces of the body may then be covered by
sheet material, and one side surface may be exposed. The
exposed side surface may be plane, but could alternatively
have a corrugated shape substantially complementary to the
shape of an outer corrugated roofing surface.
The sticky, paste-like sealant compound may be any suitable
sticky compound adapted to be applied on a roofing surface,
for example a compound on the basis of oils and fibres and
optionally fillers. One type of such materials is disclosed
in Danish patent No. 120,301 and consists of vegetable oil,
mineral oil, linseed oil, linseed oil varnish, asbestos
fibres and optionally a hardener and is extended or made
lighter by incorporation of expanded polystyrene beads
having a diameter of between 0.1 and 13 mm in an amount of
between 5 and 50 per cent of the weight of the sealant. It
will be understood that similar materials may be made using
other fibres than asbestos fibres, such as plastics fi-
bres, for example polyester fibres or polyolefin fibres,including polypropylene fibres, or cellulose fibres. Speci-
fic examples of useful sealants are disclosed in Danish
patent No. 120,301; they may be modified, for example by
incorporation of fillers such as attapulgit and with sub-
stitution of the asbestos fibres by other fibres of thetype mentioned above. Also, latex can be a useful consti-
tuent of such sealants.
The present invention also provides a container for con-
taining elongated sealant bodies of the type described,
and the container according to the invention may comprise a
pair of container parts mutually interconnected by a hinge
connection, said container being adapted to be positioned
on the ridge of the roof with the upwardly open container
parts positioned of either side of the ridge. The sealant
bodies may then be transported to the top of the ridge in
the closed container, whereafter the container may be
729657BA001/KEV/KW/A30t1992 01 21
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opened and positioned on the ridge on the roof as indicated
with the sealant bodies arranged easily accessible in the
upwardly open container parts. The builders or workers may
then remove a sealant body from the container at one time
when the sealant body is to be used.
As mentioned above, the elongated sealant bodies may be
applied to the roofing surface directly by hand. However,
according to a further aspect the present invention provi-
des an apparatus for applying an elongated body of a paste-
like, sticky sealant to a surface, such as a roofing sur-
face, said apparatus comprising a frame, a pair of substan-
tially parallel extending gripping means mounted on said
frame so as to be moveable transversely in relation to each
other for gripping a pair of opposite side surface parts of
the elongated body, and means for transversely moving said
gripping means. The apparatus may be used for the applica-
tion of an elongated body, for example as that described
above having a pair of opposite side surface parts covered
by sheet material. The apparatus may, however, also be used
for the application of a sealant body without such covering
sheet material. In the latter case, the contact surfaces of
the gripping means and/or the opposite side surface parts
of the elongated sealant body should be provided with some
kind of release agent, such as release powder or release
Z5 liquid. Alternatively, the gripping surfaces of the grip-
ping means may be made from a material, which does not tend
to adhere to the sticky sealant, such as moist wood, espe-
cially moist beech-wood. The opposite side surface parts of
the sealant body may be arranged between the gripping means
of the apparatus and gripped thereby, whereafter an exposed
side surface of the elongated body extending beyond the
gripping means is pressed into engagement with the outer
roofing surface. The gripping means may then be moved
transversely out of gripping contact with the sealant body
applied.
7296578A.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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The gripping means may be moved in any suitable manner. As
an example, the gripping means may be power operated by
means of a motor or by pressure fluid operated cylinders.
In the preferred embodiment, however, the moving means are
manually operatable and may, for example, comprise handles
to be moved or rotated by the operator.
The gripping means may be moveable between a retracted
position and an extended position, in which the spacing of
the gripping means are increased. The moving means may
then comprise spring means for biassing the gripping means
towards one of these positions and means for forcing the
gripping means in the opposite direction. In the preferred
embodiment, the moving means comprise spring means for
biassing the gripping means towards their retracted posi-
tion, the moving means further comprising manually moveablecam means for forcing the gripping means to their extended
position against the spring bias.
The cam means may for example be displaceable and define an
inclined cam surface. In the preferred emkodiment, however,
the cam means comprise at least one rotatable cam disc,
which may be rotated by means of a handle.
The apparatus may define a channel-like cavity for receiv-
ing the sealant kody, and the opposite gripping means may
define the side walls of the channel-like cavity. This
cavity may have a shape corresponding to the shape of the
sealant body to be received therein or to the desired final
shape of the sealant body when it has been applied to the
outer roofing surface, which means that the channel-like
cavity may have a cross-sectional shape differing from the
cross-sectional shape of the sealant body to be gripped
thereby.
In order to obtain good contact between the sealant body
and the roofing surface to which it is applied, the sealant
body must to some extent project from the free edges of the
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
gripping means gripping the sealant body in order to allow
for a certain deformation of the sealant body when it is
pressed towards the roofing surface. However, in order to
support the opposite side surface parts of the sealant
body as much as possible so as to reduce uncontrolled
deformation, the contour of the three edge portions of the
opposite gripping means preferably corresponds to the outer
cross-sectional shape of the surface to which the sealant
body is to be applied. As an example, the free edge por-
tions of the gripping means or members may be shaped sub-
stantially complementary to the corrugated shape of an
outer roofing surface, such as a corrugated tile roofing
surface.
In order to allow increased deformation of the sealant
body while the deformation is controlled at least one of
the gripping means may comprise an outer rim portion, which
is moveable in relation to the frame and parallel with the
channel side surface defined by said at least one gripping
means. This means that the moveable rim portion may yield
when a sealant body gripped by the apparatus is pressed
towards the roofing surface. The outer rim portion, which
is moveable between extended and retracted positions, may
be spring biassed towards the extended position, so that it
is automatically returned to the extended position when the
pressure applied to the sealant body through the apparatus
is removed.
Alternatively, at least one of the opposite gripping means
may be made from a material or be constructed so that its
free edge portions may yield and adapt itself to the outer
contour of the surface to which the sealant body is to be
applied, when the free edge portion is pressed into abut-
ting engagement with said surface. As an example, the
gripping member or gripping means may be made from an
elastic or a deformable material. In the preferred embodi-
ment, however, the contour of the free edge portion of thegripping means is defined by the free ends of a plurality
729657E3A.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
of adjacent abutment elements, which are displaceable
transversely to the free edge portion between extended and
restracted positions, and which are biassed towards their
extended position. Thus, the gripping member or gripping
means may comprise a wall element defining channels or
passages therein for receiving the abutment elements, and
biassing means, such as spiral springs, for biassing the
abutment elements towards their extended position, in which
their free end portions extend from the wall element.
The invention will now be further described with reference
to the drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the ap-
paratus according to the invention,
Fig. 2 is a perspective and partially sectional view of a
closed container containing a plurality of sealant bodies,
Fig. 3 illustrates how the container shown in Fig. 2 may be
arranged on the ridge of a roof in its open condition,
Fig. 4 illustrates how an elongated sealant body or sealant
strip may be applied to a roofing surface by means of the
apparatus shown in Fig. 1,
Fig. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views along the line A-A in
Fig. 4 illustrating the apparatus in two different posi-
tions,
Fig. 7 illustrates withdrawal of a protective cover sheet
from the sealant body,
Fig. 8 illustrates how elongated sealant bodies or strips
may be cut from a flat sealant mass packed in a plastic
bag,
Fig. 9 is a perspective view of an extruded wall element
with a plurality of abutment elements displaceably received
therein,
Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a modified embodiment
of the apparatus according to the invention, and
Fig. 11 is a perspective view illustrating the modified
embodiment of Fig. 10 when in use.
729657BA.001 /KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
An elongated body 10 of a sticky, paste-like sealant com-
pound may be applied to an outer roofing surface 11, for
example the outer surface of roofing tiles, by means of an
apparatus 12, which is best illustrated in Figs. 1, 5, and
6. The elongated sealant body or sealant strip 10 may
comprise a sealant of the type disclosed in Danish patent
No. 120,301 and a cover sheet 13 covering three side sur-
faces of the sealant body, which has a substantially rec-
tangular cross-sectional shape, so that one side surface of
the sealant body or strip 10 remains exposed. A plurality
of sealant strips 10 may be delivered in a sealant strip
container 14 shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The container 14 com-
prises a pair of open, box-like container halves, which
are interconnected by a connecting sheet portion 16 forming
a hinge-connection. A plurality of sealant bodies or strips
may be arranged side by side in each of the container
halves, and in the closed position of the container the
container halves are arranged in superposed relationship,
so that one container half forms the lid portion of the
other container half in a trunk-like manner. The container
halves 15 may be retained in their closed position by means
of a sealing tape 17, and a hand-opening 18 is formed in
the connecting sheet portion 16 so that this portion may
serve as a hand grip in the closed position of a container.
When the contents of a container are to be used the con-
tainer may be transported to the ridge of a roof and opened
by removing the sealing tape 17. Thereafter, the container
may be opened so that the container halves 15 are posi-
tioned on either side of the ridge of the roof, intercon-
nected by the sheet portion 16 as illustrated in Fig. 3.The sealant bodies or sealant strips 10 are now readily
accessible in the upwardly open container halves and may be
removed directly from the container by means of the ap-
paratus 12 as will be further described below.
The apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1, 5, and 6 may be used
for gripping a sealant strip 10 and applying it to the roof
surface 11. The apparatus comprises a frame part 19 having
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
a transverse wall 20 in which a pair of T-shaped hand grips
21 are rotatably mounted, and a side wall 22 extending at
substantially right angles to the transverse wall 20. A
gripping plate 23 is mounted in sliding engagement with
the inner side surface of the side wall 22 by means of
slot-pin connections 24 so that the gripping plate 23 is
moveable between an extended position, in which the grip-
ping plate 23 extends beyond the lower free edge 25 of the
side wall 22 of the frame part 19, and a retracted posi-
tion, in which the lower edges of the side wall 22 and thegripping plates 23 are substantially coinciding. A pair of
compression springs 26 or other spring means arranged
within a cavity 27 of the frame part 19 are biassing the
gripping plate 23 towards its extended position.
The apparatus further comprises a second gripping plate 28,
which extends in substantially parallel and transversely
spaced relationship with the gripping plate 23. The grip-
ping plate 28 comprises transverse guiding walls 29 and 30
for slidingly engaging with the upper surface of the trans-
verse wall 20 and an upper transverse wall 31 defined bythe ~rame part 19, respectively. A pair of telescopic
devices 32 comprising a cylinder and a spring actuated rod
extending therefrom, interconnect the side wall 22 of the
frame part 19 and the gripping plate 28 so as to define
extended and retracted positions between which the gripping
plates 23 and 28 may be moved transversely in relation to
each other. Cutouts 33 formed in the outer guiding wall 29
may each receive a shaft 34 of the adjacent hand grip 21
therein so as to allow for such movement. A cam disc 35 is
fastened to the inner end of each hand grip shaft 34 and is
adapted to engage with the inner side surfaces of the frame
side wall 22 and the gripping plate 28, respectively, so
that the gripping plates 23 and 28 may be moved to their
extended position against the bias of the telescopic spring
devices 32 by rotating the hand grip shaft 34.
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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11
The gripping plates 23 and 28 and the frame part 19 of the
apparatus shown in the drawings define a channel-like
structure defining a cavity for receiving a sealant body or
sealant strip 10, and the use of the apparatus will now be
further explained.
When the gripping plates 23 and 28 have been moved trans-
versely to their extended position by rotating the hand
grips 21, the apparatus may be plunged into one of the
container halves 15 so as to position a sealant body 10
between the gripping plates 23 and 28. Thereafter, the hand
grips are rotated to such a position that the gripping
plates are spring biassed in engagement with opposite side
surface parts of the sealant body 10. The apparatus and the
sealant strip received therein may now be removed from the
container 14, and the outer side surface part of the seal-
ant body, which is not covered by the cover sheet 13, may
then be pressed into engagement with the corrugated roofing
surface 11 transversely to the corrugations as illustrated
in Figs. 5 and 6. When a pressure is applied to the ap-
paratus 12, the gripping plate 23, which is initially inits extended position under the bias of the spring 26,
will move to its retracted position while the springs 26
are compressed. Such inward movement of the gripping plate
23 causes the sealant body or sealant strip 10 to be moved
further into the apparatus, whereby the sealant body comes
into contact with an inclined inner wall surface 36 formed
in the frame part 19, whereby the originally rectangular
cross-sectional shape of the body 10 is deformed or modi-
fied, and the exposed lower surface part of the sealant
body 10 is pressed into intimate contact with the corruga-
ted roofing surface 11. The gripping plates 23 and 28 may
now be moved to their extended position by rotating the
hand grips 21, whereby the apparatus is released from the
sealant body 10 and may be removed therefrom. When the
cover sheet 13 has been removed from the sealant mass as
illustrated in Fig. 7, a ridge tile 37 may be placed in
position so that the sealant is sandwiched between the
729~57BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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12
roofing surface 11 and the bottom surface of the ridge tile
37. If desired, a sealant 38 may be applied to one end of
each ridge tile 37 in a conventional manner.
Fig. 8 illustrates a cutting apparatus 39 by means of which
elongated sealant bodies or sealant strips 40 for use in
connection with the apparatus 12 may be cut from a flat,
coherent sealant mass 41 packed in a bag 42, such as a bag
made from plastic film, preferably a film of foamed plas-
tic, such as polyethylene. The apparatus 39 comprises a
support plate 43 and a cutting device 44 pivotally con-
nected thereto by a pivot connection 45. The cutting device
44 comprises a frame 46 with a cutting wire or a cutting
blade 47, such as a saw blade.
One of the exposed surface parts of the sealant strip 40
may be covered by a suitable cover sheet before or after
insertion thereof into the apparatus 12, or the apparatus
may be shaped so that the inner wall parts of the apparatus
are brought into contact only with the covered opposite
side surface parts of the strip 40.
Fig. 9 shows a wall element 50, which may, for example, be
made from metal, such as aluminum, or from plastic material
by extrusion. A plurality of parallel extending adjacent
channels or passages 51 are formed in the wall element 50.
Each channel or passage receives an elongated abutment
element or finger 52, which may be moved in the channel
between retracted and extended positions, and a spring
member 53, such as a spiral spring, is arranged in channel
51 and is engaging with the inner end of the associated
abutment element or finger 52 so as to bias the same to-
wards its extended position in which the major part of thelength of the abutment element 52 extends outwardly from
the wall element 50 as shown in Fig. 9. A lug 54 formed on
each of the abutment fingers 52 at the inner end thereof
may engage with an abutment strip 55, which extends trans-
versely to and partly into the channels 51 so that the
729657~A.OOl/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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13
outward movement of the abutment fingers 52 are restrictedand the extended position of the abutment fingers 52 is
determined by the engagement of the lugs 54 with the abut-
ment strip 55.
The apparatus shown in Fig. 1 may be modified by replacing
the side wall 22, the gripping plates 23 and/or the grip-
ping plate 28 by one or more wall elements with abutment
fingers as that shown in Fig. 9 so that the outer free ends
56 are engaging with the outer roofing surface 11 when the
apparatus is used. Alternatively, wall elements of the type
shown in Fig. 9 may be mounted on the inner or outer sur-
face of the side wall 22 and/or the gripping plate 28. In
such case the gripping plate 23 may be dispensed with.
Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate a modified embodiment of the
apparatus shown in Fig. 1, wherein the gripping plate 23
has been dispensed with and wall elements 50 of the type
shown in Fig. 9 have been mounted in abutting engagement
with the inner surfaces of the side wall 22 and the grip-
ping plate 28, respectively. One wall element 50 may be
arranged between the inner surface of the gripping plate 28
and a transverse wall part 57 extending downwardly from the
guiding wall 30. Similarly, a wall element 50 may be moun-
ted between the inner surface of the side wall 22 and a
wall 58 of an insert 59 defining the inclined wall surface
36. The wall 58 extends in spaced relationship with the
side wall 22 so as to define a space therebetween for
receiving the wall element 50. The abutment fingers 52
extend downwardly beyond the preferably rectilinear free
edge portions of the side wall 22 and the gripping plate
28, respectively.
When the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 9-11 is used, the
outer free ends 56 of the abutment fingers 52 are pressed
into engagement with the roofing surface 11 to which the
sealant body 10 is to be applied. Because the abutment fin-
gers may be moved inwardly against the bias of the springs
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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14
53 the outer free end 56 of the abutment fingers 52 may incombination define an outline corresponding to the cross-
sectional shape of the roofing surface 11 as illustrated in
Fig. 11.
It should be understood that various modifications and
changes of the embodiments shown in the drawings could be
made within the scope of the present invention. As an
example, the cover sheet 13 could be replaced by any other
kind of release agent, such as release powder or a releas-
ing liquid which could be applied before insertion of thesealant body into the apparatus, or the contacting walls of
the apparatus could be adapted to apply such release agent.
729657BA.001/KEV/KW/A30/1992 01 21
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