AU696930B2

AU696930B2 - Improved roof valley system

Info

Publication number: AU696930B2
Application number: AU61822/96A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Gregory Penny
Original assignee: G J & A L Penny Master Builder
Current assignee: Ezi-Building Systems International Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1995-06-29
Filing date: 1996-06-28
Publication date: 1998-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 2016-06-28
Also published as: AU6182296A

Description

TITLE: IMPROVED ROOF VALLEY SYSTEM

1. Field of the Invention

THIS INVENTION relates to an improved roof valley system.

2. Prior Art With a conventional roof valley, two roof valley boards are laid side by side, transverse to the rafters, forming a "V of approximately 400mm in width. Once the valley boards are in place, creating a straight line between the ridge and the gutter, valley battens are then placed down the edge of the valley boards. The standard valley sheet is then placed on the valley boards, and fixed into position, making sure that the valley sheet itself is not penetrated, so as to prevent leaks from occurring. The metal or tiled roof can then be fixed in position. The above process can be quite time-consuming. In addition, it requires alignment and fixing of five separate components. AU-B-10982/92 (637740) (JOHN LYSAGHT (AUSTRALIA)

LIMITED) discloses a valley gutter which attempts to overcome some of the difficulties in the prior art. However, this gutter is in itself time consuming to install. A lower layer must be positioned on the top chords of the roof and fixed with fasteners; and then the upper layer is rested on the lower layer and secured by hold down clips and fasteners.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple roof valley system where only a single component is required.

It is a preferred object to provide such a system where the component is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and is easy to install.

It is a further preferred object to provide such a component which can be readily modified to suit different intended applications.

Other preferred objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description. In one aspect, the present invention resides in a roof valley component, rolled or formed from a length of sheet metal, including: a central portion having a shallow V-shape in end profile; a pair of side portions, operable to be fixed to a plurality of spaced roof rafters and to support ends of roof battens, which support roof cladding; and a pair of intermediate portions, each intermediate portion interconnecting the central portion to a respective one of the side portions and being of inverted channel profile in end view, each intermediate portion being operable as a valley batten to support the roof cladding terminating over the central portion; the central portion being spaced above the level of the side portions.

In a second aspect, the present invention resides in a roof valley component, rolled or formed from a length of sheet metal, including: a central portion having a substantially M-shape portion with inclined side flanges in end profile; a pair of side portions, operable to be fixed to a plurality of spaced roof rafters and to support ends of roof battens which support roof tiles; and a pair of intermediate portions, each intermediate portion interconnecting one of the inclined side flanges of the central portion to a respective one of the side portions and being of inverted channel profile in end view, each intermediate portion being operable as a valley batten to support the tiles terminating against or over the central portion; the central portion being spaced above the level of the side portions.

Preferably, the component is cold roll-formed sheet steel or aluminium. Preferably, the sheet material is pre-painted, pre-coated or galvanised. Suitable sheet materials include "Zincalume" and "Colorbond" (registered trade marks) coated sheet steels. The roof cladding (eg., metal sheeting or roof tiles) may be fixed to the intermediate portions by suitable fasteners or clips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS To enable the invention to be fully understood, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG 1 is a sectional end view showing a conventional roof valley system; FIG 2 is a similar view showing a roof valley system in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS 3 and 4 are sectional views of second and third embodiments of the roof valley component; and

FIG 5 is a sectional end view of a fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED

EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG 1 , the roof 10, at a valley, has rafters 11 and 12 interconnected by a valley rafter 13. A pair of valley boards 15,

16 are laid down the valley (substantially transverse to the rafters 11 , 12) in a shallow V-shaped formation and are separated by a space 14. A respective valley batten 17, 18 is laid alongside the valley boards 15, 16 and a sheet metal valley gutter 19 is fixed to the valley batten 17, 18 by fasteners not shown, the valley gutter 19 being supported by the valley boards 15, 16. Referring now to the present invention (see FIG 2), the roof

110 has rafters 111 , 112 and a valley rafter 113 as hereinbefore described. The valley component 120 is cold-roll formed from a strip of

"Zincalume" (registered trade mark) steel and has a substantially V- shaped central portion 121 (eg., with an inclined angle of 90° to 165°), where the central portion 121 interconnects a pair of intermediate portions 122, 123 of "substantially" inverted channel section; where each channel section has an inner vertical flange 124 connected to a deeper outer flange 125 by a web 126. Side portions 127, 128 are provided along the valley component 120 to enable the valley component to be fixed to the rafters 111 , 112 by suitable fasteners 130.

When the valley component 120 has been fixed in position, roof battens 131 can be laid with their ends abutting the outer flanges 125 of the intermediate portions 122, 123 and roof cladding (eg., roll-form metal sheeting or roof tiles) 132 can be fixed to the roof battens 131 and to the webs 126 of the intermediate sections 122, 123 by suitable fasteners 133. It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the included angle in the central portion 121 of the valley component may be varied, eg., by bending, to suit the included angle of the particular valley in which the component 120 is to be fitted.

By varying the thickness of the material from which the roof valley component 120 is formed, and/or by increasing the heights of the flanges 124, 125, the structural strength of the valley component 120 may be increased.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the roof valley component 120, in accordance with the present invention, can be much more easily installed than the existing roof valley system shown in FIG 1.

In addition, the fixing of the roof valley component 120 to the rafters 111 , 112 by the fastenings through the side portions 127, 128 ensures that the fastening procedure will not provide a leakage path for water in the gutter. in the embodiment in FIG 3, the component 320 has elongate ribs 331 formed in the central portion 321. While the ribs 331 increase the strength of the central portion 321 , their primary task is to direct any water down the valley component 320 and prevent water tending to travel across the component and under the tiles or metal cladding.

In the embodiment of FIG 4, the component 420 has ribs

431 in the central portion 422 with downwardly divergent side walls, and the side walls 424, 425 of the side portions 4222 are also downwardly divergent, to enable the components 420 to be nested together for transport and easily released on site.

The embodiment of FIG 5 shows a component 520 particularly suited for a roof covered by tiles 532. While the side portions 528 and intermediate portions 523 are substantially as hereinbefore described, the central portion 521 has a substantially M-section formation 550 intermediate inclined side flanges 551. The free ends 539 of the innermost tiles 532 abut the side walls 522 of the M-section formation 550 - this stops all wind-blown rain from entering under the tiles, prevents bird access under the tiles, and prevents leaf build-up in the valley. The straight lines defined by the side walls 522 enable the tiler to accurately cut the ends 539 of the tiles 532 to abut the M-section formation 550. o In summary, the advantage of the present invention includes:

1. The single roof valley component performs the same function as the valley boards, valley battens and valley sheet combined. In addition, the component can be installed in a single step considerably 5 reducing installation time.

2. The fixing of the component via the side portions ensures that the system is 100% water-tight.

3. The side portions serve the dual purpose of fixing the component to the roof frame and providing a fixing location for the roof o battens.

4. Because of its strength, the component is strong enough to enable the installer to walk on during roof installation.

5. Due to the uniformity of the product, it eliminates any problems which may arise when using existing timber valley boards and 5 valley battens.

6. The product can be produced in a range of colours to match the roof sheeting of a roof tile.

Due to the gauge thickness of the product, on-site cutting of the end of the component with conventional metal shears may prove 0 difficult.

One end of the component may be pre-cut (at two intemal 45^c angles) to make entry of the component into the gutter neat and rust- free, leaving the top to be simply cut with a power tool, to the required length, which is then covered by the ridge cappings.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A roof valley component, rolled or formed from a length of sheet metal, including: a central portion having a shallow V-shape in end profile; a pair of side portions, operable to be fixed to a plurality of spaced roof rafters and to support ends of roof battens, which support roof cladding; and a pair of intermediate portions, each intermediate portion interconnecting the central portion to a respective one of the side portions and being of inverted channel profile in end view, each intermediate portion being operable as a valley batten to support the roof cladding terminating over the central portion; the central portion being spaced above the level of the side portions.

2. A roof valley component, rolled or formed from a length of sheet metal, including: a central portion having a substantially M-shape portion with inclined side flanges in end profile; a pair of side portions, operable to be fixed to a plurality of spaced roof rafters and to support ends of roof battens which support roof tiles; and a pair of intermediate portions, each intermediate portion interconnecting an inclined side flange of the central portion to a respective one of the side portions and being of inverted channel profile in end view, each intermediate portion being operable as a valley batten to support the tiles terminating against or over the central portion; the central portion being spaced above the level of the side portions.

3. A roof valley component as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein: the component is cold roll-formed from prepainted, coated or galvanised sheet steel or aluminium; and the roof cladding is fixed to the intermediate portions by fasteners or clips.

4. A roof valley component as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein: elongate ribs are provided in the central portion for increased strength and to prevent water travelling across the central portion.

5. A roof valley component as claimed in Claim 2 wherein: the innermost of the tiles overlie the inclined side flanges and their ends abut a respective side wall of the M-shape portion.

6. A roof valley component as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein: the intermediate portions have downwardly divergent side walls to enable a plurality of the components to be nested for transport and easily released on site.