Roof insulation system and method

An improved roof insulation system and method is disclosed for a building having a sidewall and an upper supporting surface. The insulation system includes a first substantially rigid insulation disposed about the periphery of the upper surface of the building. A second flexible insulation is disposed within the central area defined by the first rigid insulation thereby insulating the entire upper supporting surface of the building. A flexible waterproof covering is located upon the first and second insulations with the first insulation supporting the periphery of the waterproof covering and with the second insulation supporting the central area of the waterproof covering. Flashing is secured by mechanical fasteners to seal the terminal ends of the waterproof covering to the building about the periphery of the upper supporting surfaces thereby producing a waterproof insulating roof system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to building structures and more particularly to an 
insulating roof system. 
2. Background of the Prior Art 
Various types of roofing systems have been developed by the prior art for 
numerous types of building structures. Most of these devices have been 
specifically designed for a particular need and have met with various 
degrees of success in the art. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,221 to G. E. Swenson, demonstrates the application of a 
corrugated sheet with an insulating board secured thereto by nails 
overlaid by a surface coating and a finishing board. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,525 to F. W. Curtis et al, demonstrates the use of a 
fire retardant roof and vapor barrier whereby a sheet metal roof is 
overlaid by a non-combustible adhesive for affixing an insulating layer 
thereon. A waterproofing surface layer is then affixed to the insulating 
layer. 
U.S. Pat. No. 2,895,432 issued to J. H. Bowman, shows a roof system for a 
sheet metal roof provided with laterally spaced parallel folds projecting 
downward with a thermal insulation covering the metal deck and fastened 
thereto by nails driven through the insulation into clips engaging the 
fold of the sheet metal roof. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,618 to B. M. Jacobs teaches the use of prefabricated 
panels for an A-frame construction with each panel including separate 
layers of sheeting filled with an insulating material. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,306 to R. E. Oliver incorporates an insulating 
structure employing an adhesive for providing a vapor-tight bond between 
adjacent vapor barriers of adjacent insulators. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,847 to A. Josek demonstrates the use of edge flashing 
for a roof providing a waterproof seal for the thermal extensions of butt 
joint and the like. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,495 to E. Simpson, Jr. illustrates the use of a 
combined flashing and fascia system and method incorporating an L-shaped 
fascia for sealing the terminating edge of a roofing system. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,664 to S. A. Funk et al illustrates a reinforced 
plastic roofing sheet with an underlay of open cell plastic foam. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,766 to S. Leslie Jamieson relates to a flashing 
construction for a flat roof wherein a flexible waterproof flashing 
membrane is secured to an upper edge of a seat and adapted to cover the 
cant and merge of roofing felt to form a weathertight flashing 
construction. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,269 to Harry S. Fisher et al demonstrates a fascia 
plate for a substantially horizontal roofing support wherein the fascia 
plate includes a slot for receiving a flexible impervious flash strip, a 
part of which is sealed by asphalt to the roofing material. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,884 to R. S. Dunn et al teaches a method of roof 
construction utilizing a flexible roof cover sheet and a roof locking 
member which is rotated to stretch the cover sheet in a lateral direction 
to rigidly fasten the cover sheet to the building structure. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,546 to Gerald Martin et al discloses a modular roof 
construction whereby roof modules may be joined together to overlay 
portions of the central trusses for nailing. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,873 issued to Sherman A. Stewart et al discloses a twin 
membrane, self-sealing, mechanically fastened, insulating roof deck system 
wherein spacing between insulating substrate boards are filled with 
insulating foam. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,922 to Frank S. Elliott illustrates a roof apparatus 
for mobile homes and the like using laminated layers of different 
materials to provide an insulating roof structure. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,628 to Charles Kreimer illustrates an eave thermal 
baffle insulation to prevent air and moisture from going through the eave 
to the insulation of the roof system. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,346 to John Kaufmann teaches a roof composition and 
construction having an insulating member of plastic foam covered with a 
protective sheet made of reinforced concrete covered by a weather 
impervious rubber structured membrane. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,487 to Alfred St. Clair discloses a roof construction 
utilizing thermal plastic panels arranged in an edge contacting 
relationship to span the roof underpanels. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,817 issued to Frank S. Elliott, together with U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,045,922 to Frank S. Elliott, are among the most pertinent prior art 
teaching the use of an insulating roof apparatus of flexible layers of 
different materials including insulating and sealing materials. A major 
disadvantage of the aforesaid patents resides in the lamination of the 
various elements into a unitary structure thereby necessitating the use of 
sophisticated equipment in order to lift the insulation to the top of the 
roof for installation. Further, the vapor barrier of these prior art 
structures are disposed adjacent to a waterproof covering material thereby 
providing a redundant function of a waterproof vapor barrier adjacent a 
waterproof covering. Further, the use of flexible insulation in proximity 
to the edge of the roof surface requires flashing material which extends 
over the top of the roof structure thereby increasing the possibility of 
leakage of the roofing system. 
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and 
method which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art 
devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to 
the advancement of the roof insulation art. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a roof insulating system and 
method incorporating two distinct types of insulation, namely a rigid 
insulation disposed around the outer perimeter of the roof of a building 
with a flexible insulating disposed in the central area of the building 
roof, whereby the rigid insulation provides mechanical stability and 
support for a waterproof covering. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a roof insulating system and 
method wherein the rigid insulation is secured to the building structure 
by adhesive or similar means to provide lateral stability to the 
insulation system upon the roof of the building. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a roof insulating system and 
method wherein the installation of the insulation system can be 
accomplished without the use of specialized tools or equipment required to 
lift the component elements to the roof of the building. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a roof insulating system and 
method incorporating rigid insulation disposed in the central area of the 
roof of the building for providing additional support to an overlaying 
waterproof covering. 
Another object of this invention is to provide a roof insulating system and 
method which is low in material and installation cost and is essentially 
maintenance free. 
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the 
invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of 
some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended 
invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the 
disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention 
within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a 
fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the 
summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the 
preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by 
the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is defined by the appended claims with a specific embodiment 
shown in the attached drawings. For the purpose of summarizing the 
invention, the invention may be incorporated into a roof insulation system 
for a building having sidewalls and an upper supporting surface. The 
invention comprises a first substantially rigid insulation means disposed 
about the periphery of the upper supporting surface of the building. A 
second flexible insulation means is disposed within the central area 
defined by the first substantially rigid insulation means thereby 
insulating the entire supporting surface of the building. A flexible 
waterproof covering means is disposed upon the first and second insulation 
means with the first insulation means supporting the periphery of the 
flexible waterproof covering means with the second insulation means 
supporting the central area of the flexible waterproof covering means. 
Sealing means is incorporated within the invention for sealing the 
terminal ends of the waterproof covering means to the building in 
proximity to the outer periphery of the upper supporting surface thereby 
producing a waterproof insulating roof system. 
In a more specific embodiment of the invention, the rigid insulation means 
has the characteristic of being substantially less compressible than the 
second flexible insulation means enabling the first insulation means to 
support the periphery of the waterproof covering. Preferably, the rigid 
insulation is secured to the upper surface of the building by means such 
as adhesive or the like for maintaining the lateral position of the 
flexible insulation means upon the upper surface of the building. In 
another embodiment of the invention, additional rigid insulation may be 
disposed within the central area defined by the periphery of the upper 
surface of the building for adding further support to the flexible 
waterproof covering. 
The rigid insulation may take the form of a plurality of blocks disposed in 
an abutting relationship about the periphery of the upper surface of the 
building. The second flexible insulation preferably takes the form of at 
least one piece of flexible insulation such as fiberglass abutting the 
edge of the rigid insulation which is also preferably a rigid fiberglass 
insulation. The thickness of the rigid insulation is substantially less 
than the thickness of the second insulation enabling the covering to be 
slightly tapered about the terminating edges of the upper supporting 
surface of the building structure. 
The flexible weatherproof covering is preferably of a flexible plastic 
material affixed to the building structure by flashing means or the like 
secured to the upper sidewall of the building in proximity to the 
periphery of the upper supporting surface. 
The invention also resides in the method of forming a roof structure system 
of a building having an upper supporting surface including coating the 
periphery of the upper supporting surface with an adhesive. The method 
additionally comprises depositing a plurality of insulating blocks of 
substantially rigid insulation upon the adhesive to cover the periphery of 
the upper supporting surface of the building. Additional steps in the 
method include laying flexible insulation and more specifically, unrolling 
rolled insulation upon the central area of the upper supporting surface to 
abut the rigid insulation thereby insulating the entire area of the upper 
supporting surface of the building. The insulation is then covered with a 
waterproof covering and sealed by applying flashing or the like in 
proximity to the periphery of the upper supporting surface of the 
building. The waterproof covering material is preferably unrolled on top 
of the insulation enabling the method of forming the roof structure to be 
accomplished without the use of expensive roofing equipment to raise the 
component materials to the upper supporting surface of the building. 
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important 
features of the present invention in order that the detailed description 
of the invention that follows may be better understood so that the present 
contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated. Additional features 
of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of 
the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in 
the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be 
readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures 
for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should 
also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent 
constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as 
set forth in the appended claims.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several 
views of the drawings. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
FIG. 1 illustrates an improved roof insulation system 10 disposed upon a 
building 12 shown as a mobile home having a main building 14 and an annex 
building 16. Although the drawings show the building as a mobile home, it 
should be appreciated that the term "building" as used in the instant 
specification and claims includes any type of structure requiring an 
insulating roof such as mobile or permanently installed building 
structures as well as vehicles such as vans, sea vessels and the like. 
Additionally, the improved roof system may be utilized on a portion of a 
building in combination with a conventional roof as more fully explained 
with references to FIGS. 9 and 10. The roof system 10 which will be 
explained more fully hereinafter, is affixed to both the main building 14 
and the annex building 16 with a seam 18 joining two sections of the 
covering 20 and 22 to form a single waterproof roof system. It should also 
be appreciated that although the building 12 has been disclosed as a 
single width mobile home, the instant invention is suitable for use on 
double-width mobile homes or large building structures requiring multiple 
seams 18. The roof structure 10 is secured by flashing 24 disposed about 
the periphery of the building 12. 
The improved roof system 10 is more fully shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein 
the roof insulation system 10 is disposed on the building 12 having a 
sidewall 26 and an upper supporting surface 28 made of wood or metallic 
material. The invention comprises an adhesive 30 disposed on the outer 
periphery of the upper supporting surface 28 of the building 12 with a 
first substantially rigid insulation means 32 disposed on the adhesive 30. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of the building 12 with the rigid insulation 
32 disposed about the outer periphery of the main building 14 and the 
building annex 16. The first rigid insulation is shown as a plurality of 
blocks of rigid fiberglass which may be a thickness of one inch for adding 
mechanical strength around the periphery of the upper supporting surface 
28. 
A second flexible insulation means 34 is disposed within the central area 
36 shown in FIG. 3, defined by the rigid insulation 32 for entirely 
covering the upper supporting surface 28 of the building 12. The second 
insulation 34 may be, for example, three and one half inches fiberglass 
insulation which has substantially more compressibility than the first 
insulation 32. The first rigid insulation 32 affixed to the upper 
supporting surface 28 by the adhesive 30 maintains the lateral position of 
the flexible insulation 34 upon the upper surface 28. The second 
insulation 34 abuts the edge of the first insulation 32 for providing this 
lateral stability. The first substantially rigid insulation 32 provides a 
higher insulation per unit thickness than the second flexible insulation 
34. 
FIG. 3 shows a plurality of first insulation blocks 32A disposed in the 
central area 36 of the building adding further support to a flexible 
waterproof covering 38. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the 
art that the rigid insulation may be intermittently disposed anywhere 
within the central area 36 to add support to the waterproof covering 38. 
The intermittently disposed rigid insulation 32A is more fully shown in 
FIG. 2. 
The flexible waterproof covering means 38 is disposed upon the first and 
second insulations 32 and 34 with the first insulation 32 supporting the 
covering 38 about the periphery of the upper supporting surface 28 and 
with the second flexible insulation means 34 supporting the central area 
36 of the waterproof covering 38. It should be appreciated by those 
skilled in the art that the flexible insulation 34 will be somewhat 
compressed by the weight of the covering means 38. The waterproof flexible 
covering 38 may be any type of flexible material having a waterproof 
characteristic with sufficient durability for a roofing covering. The 
inventor has determined that the product sold under the trademark 
"TREMPLY", by the B F Goodrich Company, having a Hypalon synthetic rubber 
material manufactured by DuPont, is suitable for operation of this 
invention. However, it should be understood that numerous other types of 
material may be utilized in this invention. 
The flexible waterproof covering 38 is secured to the building structure by 
flashing 24 secured by mechanical means such as screws 42. The first rigid 
insulation 32 preferably has lesser thickness than the second flexible 
insulation 34 to provide the taper 44 as illustrated in FIG. 2. This taper 
44 facilitates water drainage in addition to providing a more 
asethestically pleasing appearance to the roof structure 10. 
The flexible waterproof covering 38 is disposed between the sidewall 26 of 
the building 12 and the flashing 24. A positive seal is made in this 
manner since the flashing 24 does not extend along the upper horizontal 
surface of the flexible waterproof covering 38 which was a substantial 
disadvantage of the prior art. The present invention provides an insulated 
waterproof roof which may be affixed to new or existing buildings upon 
support surfaces or an existing roof with minimal material and 
installation costs. In addition, the roof structure substantially reduces 
the transmission of sound through building 12. 
The invention also resides in the method of forming the roof insulation 
system as is more fully shown in FIGS. 4-8. 
FIG. 4 illustrates the first step in the method of forming the improved 
roof insulation system wherein the adhesive 30 is disposed upon the outer 
periphery of an upper supporting surface of a building 12A. 
FIG. 5 illustrates the second step in the method of forming the improved 
roof structure wherein the plurality of blocks of first rigid insulation 
32 are disposed upon the adhesive 30 on the upper supporting surface. In 
this embodiment, the upper supporting surface 28 is void of intermittently 
disposed first rigid insulations 32A in the central area 36, but the same 
method would be applicable for use in such applications. 
FIG. 6 illustrates the third step in the method of forming an improved roof 
insulation system wherein the flexible insulation 34 is disposed within 
the central area 36 of the upper supporting surface 28. More specifically, 
FIG. 6 shows the flexible insulation 34 being unrolled on the upper 
supporting surface 28 to abut the first insulation 32 secured to the upper 
supporting surface 28 by the adhesive 30. The flexible insulation 34 is 
shown to have a greater thickness than the first rigid insulation 32 and 
although desirable, is not an essential aspect of the invention. 
FIG. 7 illustrates the fourth step in the method of forming the improved 
roof insulating structure wherein the flexible waterproof covering 38 is 
unrolled on top of the rigid and flexible insulations. The flexible 
waterproof covering 38 is then cut to the approximate size of the upper 
supporting surface 28 such that the waterproof covering may be affixed to 
the building. 
FIG. 8 illustrates the final step in the method of forming the improved 
roof insulation system wherein the flashing 24 is secured to the upper 
sidewall of the building to complete the process. For roof requiring 
multiple widths of flexible waterproof covering 38, an additional step of 
creating seams between adjacent flexible waterproof covering widths is 
utilized, but such techniques are well known in the art and are not 
explicitly stated herein. 
The instant method enables the insulation roof system to be fabricated on 
top of the upper supporting surface 28 with each of the components being 
separately raised to the upper surface 28. This is a distinct advantage 
over the prior art wherein the entire laminated system had to be lifted 
and installed at one time, thus requiring cranes or lifts to raise the 
heavy components. The present invention has eliminated the need for such 
equipment and has provided a low cost, low maintenance insulation system 
which is very beneficial to the industry. 
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the improved insulating roof system 10 being 
installed on a portion 12B of a building in combination with a 
conventional roof 50 incorporating shingles, tiles or the like. FIG. 10 is 
an enlarged sectional view of the juncture of the conventional roof 50 and 
the improved roof insulation system 10 with the conventional roof 50 being 
shown as a shingled roof. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the 
art that the shingled roof 50 may be a tile roof or any other conventional 
roof system. In this example, the installation of the improved roof 
insulating system 10 will be explained assuming the conventional roof 50 
is already in position, but it should be understood that the improved roof 
insulating system 10 and conventional roof 50 may be installed 
concurrently, depending upon the particular application. 
For a pre-existing conventional roof 50, one or more of the bottom rows of 
shingles 52 and 54 are either folded back or are removed and the flat 
section 12B of the improved insulating roof system 10 is installed as 
heretofore described. 
A rigid insulation 32A is cut at 56 to cooperate with the slope 58 of the 
conventional roof 50 and is positioned as shown. A first layer of liquid 
roof sealant 60 is applied to the underside of the flexible waterproof 
covering 38. A first sealing tape 62, such as butyl tape or the like, is 
applied to the shingles or sheeting of the conventional roof structure 50 
in proximity to the terminating edge 64 of the flexible waterproof 
covering 38. The flexible waterproof covering 38 is secured to the 
shingles or sheeting through the first liquid roof sealant 60 with the 
terminating edge 64 of the flexible waterproof covering 38 extending 
beyond the sealing tape 62. A second sealing tape 66, such as butyl tape 
or the like, is applied to the upper surface of the flexible waterproof 
covering 38 adjacent the first tape 62 and is secured by an aluminum 
flashing 68 and mechanical fasteners 70 such as roofing nails or the like. 
A bead of silicon sealant 72 is installed at the terminating edge 64 of 
the flexible waterproof covering 38 to prevent leakage. A second layer of 
liquid roof sealant 74 is installed on the upper surface of the flexible 
waterproof covering 38 and the aluminum flashing 68 to seal with the 
underside of the shingles 54 and to protect the flexible waterproof 
covering 38 therefrom. The shingles 52 and 54 may then be replaced to seal 
with the liquid roof sealant. In the case of a tiled roof, the tiles are 
replaced and sealed as required for the particular roof structure. The 
disclosed sealing apparatus and method provides distinct advantages to 
housing additions which are typically of a non-insulated structure. 
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims as 
well as that of the foregoing description. Although this invention has 
been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of 
particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the 
preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous 
changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement 
of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of 
the invention.