JP7586692B2 - Simple Structures - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a simple structure that can be installed in a residential garden, etc.

Traditionally, decks have been installed in the gardens of homes. In such decks, a fascia board is attached to cover the edges of the decking material, but this inevitably gives the appearance of being unsophisticated.

In consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a simple structure that does not require a fascia board to cover the edge of the deck material.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a simple structure comprising a deck material and an end cap, wherein the deck material has a hollow portion consisting of an inner upper surface, an inner lower surface, an inner left side surface and an inner right side surface, and a partition wall dividing the hollow portion into multiple sections, and the end cap has a fixing means and a clamping portion, and the clamping portion clamps only one partition wall in the center of the deck material.

Not only does it eliminate the need for a fascia board to cover the edges of the deck material, but the edge cap looks like the ends of wood, giving the impression that each piece of deck material is made of wood, improving the appearance, and it also provides a simple structure that eliminates gaps between the edge cap and the deck material.

A perspective view of a deck installed in a residential garden Front view of the deck Side view of deck Rear view, side view, and cross-sectional side view of the end cap Bottom view of end cap Front and side views of the end cap showing how it is attached to the decking, with the back structure visible. Conceptual diagram showing how edge caps hide variations in deck material thickness An explanatory diagram showing measures against thermal deformation of the end cap

(Example)
The following description will be given using the drawings, but the drawings are created for explanatory purposes, and in order to make the description easier to understand, some components not necessary for the description may not be shown intentionally. In addition, some components may be shown intentionally large or small for the purpose of explanation, and the drawings are not drawn to an accurate scale. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings indicate parts with the same function, and duplicate descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention based on the drawings. Figures 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the simple structure according to the present invention, applied to a deck installed in the garden of a house. As shown in Figure 1, the opposite side of the house is defined as the front, and the left and right are defined as seen from the front. In this case, the rear edge of the deck is installed along the exterior wall of the building, and the deck can be accessed from the terrace window of the building. In this deck, a plurality of slats 3 are hung at intervals from front to back on supports 2 erected on the front, back, left and right, and a plurality of deck materials 4 are hung on the slats 3 in a line in the left and right direction in the front to back direction. A small end cap 1 is fitted into the small end of each deck material 4. The deck material 4 is a synthetic wood material extruded from synthetic resin mixed with wood powder, and as shown in Figures 2 and 6, it has a hollow portion consisting of an inner upper surface 443, an inner lower surface 444, an inner left side surface 445, and an inner right side surface 446, and a partition wall that divides the hollow portion into several parts. The end cap 1 is also made of synthetic wood, but is molded by injection molding rather than extrusion.

Figure 2 is a front view of the upper part of the deck, with a portion cut away. Figure 2 also shows a partially visualized view of the inside of multiple end caps 1 lined up, so that the characteristics of the end cap 1, which will be described later, and how they engage with the deck material 4 can be seen. That is, the end cap 1 on the far left is drawn in its normal state, the end cap 1 second from the left is drawn with the structure of the back of the end cap 1 and the structure of the deck material 4 visible, and the end cap 1 that should be on the far right is drawn as if it had been removed, with the end of the deck material 4 visible.

Figure 3 is a side view of the upper part of the deck. As shown in Figures 3 and 6, the upper end 18 of the end cap 1 is flush with the upper surface of the deck material 4, while the lower end 19 of the end cap 1 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the deck material 4. The upper end of the synthetic wood end cap 1 is attached so that it is flush with the upper end of the deck material 4, so that when the deck material 4 is viewed from above at eye level, it has a natural wood appearance. If an inexpensive end cap such as synthetic rubber is used, the appearance of an industrial product will be unavoidable, but the embodiment of the present invention makes the deck material 4 look as if it were made of natural wood, highlighting the luxurious feel of the deck material 4 that is aligned in the front-to-back direction.

(Focusing and locking structure of small cap)
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of the end cap 1, particularly the structure of the back side. Fig. 4(a) shows the back side of the end cap 1, Fig. 4(b) shows the side of the end cap 1, and Fig. 4(c) shows the cross section between A-A in Fig. 4(a). As can be seen from Fig. 4(b), the lid portion 11 is linear across the entire width in the left-right direction, showing the state in which the end cap 1 is attached to the deck material 4. Before being attached to the deck material 4, the lid portion 11 has a curved shape.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the end cap 1 to show the state in which the end cap 1 is attached to the deck material 4. The curve drawn by the dashed line is the shape of the end cap 1 before it is attached to the deck material 4. This will be described later. As can be understood by looking at Figures 4 and 5 together, eight extension members are provided from the back surface of the lid portion 11, which will be located in the front when it is attached to the deck material 4, toward the back in the swallowing direction. Four of the eight extension members have holes for screwing as a means for fixing the end cap 1 to the deck material 4. The four members are further classified into side screw fastening parts 12 provided on the left and right, and two bottom screw fastening parts 13 provided near the bottom center. These screw fastening parts function as the main fixing means, and are all swallowed into the hollow part of the deck material 4 while sliding against the inner side surface and inner bottom surface of the deck material 4. At the swallowing position, the end cap 1 is adjusted to the appropriate vertical position to be fixed and then screwed in by the screw 122.

Of the eight extension members, the remaining four are two inner locking parts 14 and two outer locking parts 15. The inner locking parts 14 and the outer locking parts 15 do not have holes for screwing, but instead have sawtooth uneven parts on the side where the extended parts slide against the inner side surface of the hollow part of the deck material 4. The inner locking parts 14 and the outer locking parts 15 are oriented and shaped so that the sawtooth uneven parts slide strongly against the side surface of the partition wall 442 of the hollow part when injection molding. The inner locking parts 14 and the outer locking parts 15 also function as means for fixing the end cap 1 to the deck material 4 by frictional force. In particular, the two inner locking parts 14 are clamping parts that strongly clamp the central partition wall 441 located in the center of the hollow part of the deck material 4, and provide a strong frictional force. For this reason, the inner locking parts 14 effectively prevent the end cap 1 from floating up accidentally. A typical end cap expands due to thermal expansion caused by deterioration over time, and the center of the end cap can become loose, but the clamping action of the inner locking part 14 can prevent this thermal expansion due to deterioration over time.
There is a clear reason why not all the partition walls are sandwiched by the clamping parts. Synthetic wood, which is made by extruding synthetic resin mixed with wood powder, has a larger dimensional tolerance than extrusions of aluminum material, and the width of the deck material 4 used in this deck inevitably has a certain degree of variation in processing. Due to the existence of such a width dimensional tolerance of the deck material 4, it is difficult to sandwich all the partition walls with the inner locking parts 14, 14. Therefore, the outer locking parts 15, 15 are each arranged in a separate hollow part and are made to brace themselves toward the outside, while only the central partition wall 441 is sandwiched by the inner locking parts 14, 14. However, when the dimensional tolerance of synthetic wood is improved due to technological improvements, it is of course possible to adopt a structure in which all the partition walls are sandwiched.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the state in which the end cap 1 is attached to the deck material 4 together with the deck material 4. FIG. 6(a) is a front view, but is illustrated so that the back structure of the lid portion 11 described above can be understood, and the positional relationship with the hollow portion of the deck material 4 can also be understood. FIG. 6(b) is a side view in a screw-fastened state. The screw hole of the side screw fastening portion 12 of the end cap 1 is a female screw portion corresponding to the screw 122, while the hole drilled at the corresponding position on the side of the deck material 4 is made to have a larger diameter than the screw hole of the side screw fastening portion 12. However, the size of the diameter is limited to a range in which an axial force is sufficiently applied from the seat surface of the screw 122 to the deck material 4. By configuring in this way, the vertical position of the end cap 1 relative to the deck material 4 can be adjusted. When installing, the end cap 1 is attached to the deck material 4 so that the upper end 18 is adjusted to be flush with the upper surface of the deck material 4 and fixed, while the lower end 19 protrudes downward from the lower surface of the deck material 4.
The direction of the screw hole of the side screw fastening portion 12 of the end cap 1 appears to be horizontal on the paper surface of Fig. 6, but in fact, a draft angle is given to the screw hole. This will be described later.

Synthetic wood, which is made by extruding synthetic resin mixed with wood powder, has a larger dimensional tolerance than extruded aluminum, but a certain degree of variation in the thickness of the deck material 4 used in this deck inevitably occurs due to processing. By making it possible to adjust the vertical position of the end cap 1 relative to the deck material 4, it is possible to make the variation in thickness of the deck material 4 less noticeable.
As shown in Figure 7, the top end 18 of the end cap 1 is flush with the top surface of the deck material 4, resulting in a flat overall shape and an excellent appearance. This, combined with the end cap looking like a grain, creates the impression that each piece of deck material is actually wood, resulting in a good appearance.
On the other hand, the lower end 19 protrudes downward from the underside of the deck material 4. Even when such a deck material 4 is viewed from above, it is not possible to recognize any variation in the thickness of the deck material 4. In other words, the variation in the deck material thickness can be absorbed. Note that Fig. 7 is an exaggerated drawing, and in reality, such variation does not occur. This is a diagram shown simply to facilitate understanding.

The bottom end 19 of the end cap 1 may be configured to protrude more downward. The amount of downward protrusion required to adjust the vertical position of the end cap 1 is sufficient to be the tolerance of the thickness dimension of the synthetic wood + α, but by making the protrusion amount larger, the protruding part of the end cap 1 will hide unnecessary items that are present on the underside of the deck material 4 near the frontage. A lighting stand or steps are installed on the deck (not shown), and angles are sometimes installed on the underside of the deck material 4 to connect to these components, but the end cap 1 can hide the angles.

(Drainage structure of small cap)
If the end cap 1 were to close the end of the deck material 4 with a completely watertight structure, rainwater or the like that has entered from any point in the hollow part of the deck material 4 would accumulate in the hollow part, and if this state continues for a long time, it could damage the deck material 4 or cause an unpleasant odor. The end cap 1 of this deck is designed to deal with this problem. That is, the end cap 1 is provided with a drain 16. This drain 16 is not only intended to simply drain the accumulated water in the hollow part of the deck material 4, but also to send rainwater from the top surface of the deck material 4 downward so that it passes through the end face of the deck material 4, actively washing it away. This will be explained using Figures 4 to 6.

As can be seen from Fig. 4(a) and Fig. 4(c), the drainage groove 16 is formed by thinning a part of the back side of the lid portion 11. It can be seen from the side cross-sectional view of Fig. 4(c) that it is thin-walled. Also, as can be seen from Fig. 6(a), the thin-walled portion forming the drainage groove 16 starts from the inner upper surface 443 of each of the four hollow portions divided into a plurality of portions of the deck material 4, i.e., the four inlet portions 161 provided at a position higher than the top plate of each hollow portion, and extends beyond the inner lower surface of the hollow portion of the deck material to the lower end of the fore-end cap 1, and the lower end is formed to function as the discharge portion 162. However, the discharge portion 162 is provided only in two places corresponding to the left and right end portions of the four portions. For this reason, two inner straightening portions 163 and two outer straightening portions 164 are provided at the middle position of the drainage groove 16. The inner and outer straightening sections 163 and 164 are formed with opposite gradients, with the former sloping from the inside to the outside and the latter sloping from the outside to the inside. This arrangement creates a straightening effect that allows rainwater and other water that flows in from the four inlets 161 to be efficiently discharged from the two outlets 162. The reason for this is that it is more advantageous for water drainage to concentrate the water in two locations and discharge a large amount of water than to disperse it to four locations. Also, when the water that has accumulated in the deck material is discharged after the rain has stopped, it is less noticeable when it is discharged from two locations than when it is discharged from four locations.

The drain 16 is formed so that the thin walled portion is higher than the top plate of the hollow portion of the deck material 4 so that rainwater or the like can be used to actively wash out the inside of the hollow portion from above downwards. Rainwater or the like flowing down from the top surface of the deck material 4 is relatively clean, so it is actively used as running water. This allows for efficient drainage even in terms of cleaning.
In addition to this, in the embodiment of the present invention, further measures are taken in two stages. First, in order to prevent rainwater from entering from the sides, the thin-walled portion does not extend to the inner left side and inner right side of both ends of the four hollow parts of the deck material 4. The reason for this is that dust, dirt, sand, and sometimes foreign objects, etc., blown up by the wind when it is not raining, tend to accumulate in the gaps between the multiple deck materials 4, and if the hollow parts of the deck material 4 are washed with polluted rainwater, etc., by entraining this dust, it can cause damage to the hollow parts and cause the generation of unpleasant odors. It is the same as doing laundry with dirty water. Also, since it is drained, it is not irrelevant. Even though it is called drainage, it is difficult to expect perfection, and polluted rainwater, etc. may remain in the hollow parts, and if that is the case, it is better to prevent polluted rainwater, etc. from entering at all.
Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4(b), even the lower part of the side screw fastening part 12, which does not contribute to the fixing, is extended downward to a depth greater than the depth of the hollow part. Originally, the side screw fastening part 12 has an extension that is absorbed deeper than the position where it is fixed by the screw 122, so it sufficiently prevents rainwater from the side from reaching the drain 16, but if the lower part of the hollow part is interrupted halfway, there is a risk that rainwater will enter from there. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, a part of the side screw fastening part 12 is extended to form a water return part 121. The water return part 121 cooperates with the main body of the screw fastening part 12 to fully function to repel rainwater and the like from the gap on the side. This further prevents the intrusion of polluted rainwater from the side.

(Measures to prevent deterioration of end caps over time)
As mentioned several times, synthetic wood has a problem of thermal expansion due to aging. We have previously explained the countermeasures at the inner locking portion 14, but in this embodiment, further countermeasures against thermal expansion are taken. As mentioned above, a general end cap without any countermeasures will expand due to thermal expansion caused by aging, and the center of the end cap will float. Figure 8(a) clearly shows this.

Measures against thermal expansion due to aging will be explained. In Figure 5, the surface on which the lid portion 11 of the end cap 1 exists is shown horizontal, but this is the state when it is attached to the end of the deck material 4. The surface on which the lid portion 11 exists before attachment is not flat, and in fact the lid portion 11 exists along the curved surface shown by the dashed line in Figure 5. Here, the proportion of the left and right ends of the lid portion 11 protruding forward due to warping of the lid portion 11 is approximately 2.4% of the total width of the lid portion 11.

Figure 8 shows this in an easy-to-understand way. Figure 8(b) shows the actual shape of the die-cut end cap 1 just before it is attached to the deck material 4. The end cap 1 is molded in a shape that conforms to the center so that it is convex on the left and right sides on the surface facing the deck material. Figure 8(c) shows the state after it is inserted into the end of the deck material 4. In this state, while pressing both left and right ends of the end cap 1 in the swallowing direction, the screw 122 is lightly screwed into the side screw fastening part 12 to temporarily fasten it, and then the vertical position of the end cap 1 relative to the deck material 4 is adjusted so that it is appropriate, and it is firmly screwed in and fixed. The fixed state is shown in Figure 8(d), and the whole is made flat, just like the state described so far. The embodiment of the present invention can be evaluated as taking advantage of the change in the shape of the entire end cap 1 due to aging and making good use of it.

As mentioned earlier, the draft angle given to the screw hole of the side screw fastening portion 12 is closely related to the premise that the end cap 1 is molded in a shape that follows the mold. In other words, the screw hole of the side screw fastening portion 12, which is tilted when it is removed from the mold, is forced to be horizontal when the end cap 1 is attached to the deck material 4, so that the screw 122 is screwed in the correct direction.

In this embodiment, the proportion of the left and right ends of the lid 11 protruding forward due to warping of the lid 11 is 5 mm, which is 2.4% of the total width of the lid 11, which is 207 mm, but this range is not limited to this. It will be easily understood that even a warp of about 1% does not mean that there is no effect at all compared to a flat surface.

The edge shape of decking materials is rectangular with some long and some short sides, so it is shaped so that it is convex in the long width direction, which is the direction that is most affected by thermal expansion. However, if the edge shape is square, it is better to shaped so that it is convex in both the left and right and the top and bottom.

The above describes the simplified structure of the embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings, and explains its structure, but the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention includes design changes that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention. For example, the deck does not need to be attached to the house, but can be an independent deck.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined by reusing each other's technologies, so long as there are no particular contradictions or problems in their purpose and configuration, etc.

1 End cap 11 Lid portion 12 Side screw fastening portion (fixing means)
13 Lower surface screw fastening portion (fixing means)
14 Inner locking part (pinching part)
15 Outside locking part (fixing means)
16 Drainage groove 161 Inflow section 162 Discharge section 163 Inner rectification section 164 Outer rectification section 2 Support 3 Large drawer 4 Deck material 441 Central partition wall 442 Partition wall 443 Inner upper surface 444 Inner lower surface 445 Inner left side surface 446 Inner right lower surface

Claims (1)

Equipped with decking and end caps,
The deck material has a hollow portion having an inner upper surface, an inner lower surface, an inner left side surface, and an inner right side surface, and partition walls that divide the hollow portion into a plurality of portions,
The end cap has a fixing means and a clamping portion,
This simple structure is characterized in that the clamping portion clamps only one partition wall in the center of the deck material.

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