A PREFABRICATED FLASHING FOR SEALING LEAD-THROUGHS FOR PIPES IN FLOOR AND WALL STRUCTURES

Abstract: A flashing (1) which is intended to be fitted to a pipe at a location at which the pipe enters, for example, a floor, ceiling or wall structure. The flashing forms a moisture or liquid seal between the outer surface of the pipe and the surface of the floor etc. The flashing comprises a hollow cylindrical main section (2) and a conical sealing flange (4) which projects outwardly from the lower end of the main section (2). The sealing flange is intended to sealingly abut the surface of the floor etc. Arranged on the inside surface of the main section (2) are raised parts (5) which enhance the sealing effect of the section (2) against the pipe. The thickness of the sealing flange (4) decreases from an inwardly located point outwardly towards the outer edge (8) of the flange. The flashing may be slit along one side thereof by means of a through-passing cut, such as to enable the flashing to be sprung apart and forced over an existing pipe, from one side thereof, and then bonded along the cut. Alternatively, the flashing may be in two halves capable of being bonded together.

Description: A prefabricated flashing for sealing leadτthroughs for pipes in floor and wall structures Technical Field The invention relates to a flashing which is in¬ tended to be fitted around a pipe in the region of a location at which the pipe enters, for example, a floor, ceiling or wall structure, in a manner to form a mois¬ ture or liquid seal between the outer surfaces of the p pe and the surface of said floor, ceiling or corre¬ sponding structural element. In the case of pipe installations in which pipes pass through lead-throughs in floors, ceilings or wall structures, it is always difficult to obtain a satis- factory seal between pipe and lead-through, i.e. the opening in the floor, ceiling or wall structure through which the pipe passes. The problems arising in this connection are both difficult and expensive to resolve, particularly when concerned with pipe installations in which pipes are located in so-called wet areas, since hitherto there have been no adequate means for providing in a simple and inexpensive fashion a satisfactory seal between pipe and the floor, wall or ceiling surfaces defining the lead-through. Examples of those localities in which the require¬ ment of an effective pipe seal can be expected, include lead-throughs in shower rooms, bathrooms, washing rooms etc., where water can be expected to fall directly onto the pipe, and moisture can be expected to form on the surfaces thereof, for example, through condensation on a cold pipe passing through a warm and humid atmosphere. In both of the aforesaid instances, any water present on a respective pipe is able to run, or is conducted, along the outer surface of said pipe, in towards the location at which the pipe enters the floor or wall, or the pertinent structural member of said locality. It is obviously necessary to effectively prevent such water from penetrating respective struc¬ tural members, since the presence of water therein may lead to water damage, rot and mould. Disclosure of the Invention Consequently, the prime object of the invention is to provide a novel prefabricated flashing which readily affords an effective seal, thereby to prevent damage of the aforementioned kind. A further object directly related therewith is to provide a flashing of the kind which can be readily fitted on and around an existing pipe which has no readily accessible free end onto which the flashing can be slid. In accordance with the invention, these objectives are achieved by means of a flashing of the kind afore¬ mentioned which comprises a tubular main section, pre¬ ferably in the form of a hollow cylinder, having on the inside surface thereof one or more portions or means intended to sealingly abut the outer surface of the pipe, and a base or foot section which flares radi¬ ally from one end of said main portion and which forms a sealing flange for sealing abutment with the surface of the floor, ceiling etc. The sealing portions or means on the inside sur¬ face of the main section suitably comprise raised ridges or projections, which may extend peripherally around said surface, intended to enhance sealing con- tact with the pipe on which the flashing is fitted. The base section is suitably defined by conical surfaces, which form its upper surface and the under- surface thereof remote from said main section, said conical surfaces having mutually different top angles, such that the thickness of the sealing flange decreases in a direction towards the periphery of said flange. The base section obtains in this way a relatively pliant outer-edge surface which enhances the ability of the base section to effectively seal against the floor or ceiling surface, even when the pipe to which the flashing is fitted does not extend at right angles from said floor or ceiling surface. Through the agency of the conical surface on the underneath of the base section, there is obtained between the under-surface thereof and the opposing floor or wall surface a space which accommodates any irregularities around the pipe, such as projecting glue-lines, sealing material etc. lying above said surface. When there is no readily accessible free pipe-end onto which the flashing can be slid, the flashing can nevertheless be fitted by having a slit along its length, through both main and base sections, along at least one side thereof. This enables the flashing to be sprung out sufficiently to allow the flashing to be forced over the pipe, from one side thereof, said flashing springing back around the pipe as a result of the natural resiliency of said flashing. The slit is then bonded, for example with the aid of a suitable adhesive. Preferably, the slit is so made in the tubular wall of the main section that the width of the surfaces formed by the slit is greater than the thickness of said tubular wall, thereby to provide a wider contact area when bonding the walls of the slit together, sub¬ sequent to fitting the flashing to said pipe. The flashing may also be slit along two mutually opposite sides, so as to divide the flashing axially into two halves, which when fitted around a pipe can be brought together to form a single piece structure, suitably by bonding said halves together, whereby a clamping means can be used to keep said flashing halves together, until the adhesive has set. The flashing may be made of a hard or soft material. Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be described with reference to preferred examplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig 1 is a diametrical longitudinal sectional view of a flashing according to the invention. Fig 2 is a top-plan horizontal projec- tional view of the flashing illustrated in Fig 1. Fig 3 illustrates the flashing shown in Fig 2 slit along one side thereof, and Fig 4 is a diametrical sectional view of the flashing illustrated in Fig 3, taken on the line IV-IV. Embodiments of the Invention As illustrated in Fig 1 , a first embodiment of a flashing according to the invention comprises a sleeve¬ like construction in which the tubular main section 2 of the flashing 1 has the form of a hollow cylinder 2, from which the base section 3 of said flashing extends radially at the lower end of said cylinder, as seen in Fig 1. The base section forms a sealing flange 4 which is intended to abut the floor or ceiling through which the pipe (not shown) fitted with said flashing passes. For the purpose of enhancing the sealing contact between the flashing and the pipe (not shown) on which it is mounted, the inside surface of the tubular main section 2 is provided with ridges or raised portions, solely identified in the Figure by reference 5. These raised portions may have the form of mutually parallel ridges extending circumferentially around the inside of the section 2. The base section 3 is defined by an upper and a lower conical surface 6 and 7 respectively. The conical surfaces have mutually different top angles, causing the thickness of the sealing flange 4 to decrease out towards the outer peripheral edge thereof. By causing the under-surface 7 of the base section 3 to slope upwardly and inwardly from the plane con- taining the peripheral edge 8, the sealing flange 4 is given a pliant, and therewith resilient, sealing outer portion, while the tubular main section 2 of the flash¬ ing can be permitted a certain degree of inclination relative to the base section 3, without impairing the ability of the flange 4 to seal effectively against the opposing structural surface, or preventing such a seal from being made. This enables the flashing to seal effectively, even when the pipe to which the flashing is fitted does not extend at right angles to the sur¬ face against which the sealing flange 4 seals. In the second embodiment illustrated in Figs 3-4, the flashing is slit along one side by a cut 10, so that the flashing can be sprung apart sufficiently to enable it to be forced over the pipe onto which it is to be fitted. The slit 10 comprises a vertical cut 12 made through the tubular main section 2 parallel with the long axis 11 of the flashing, down to the upper, conical surface 6 of the base section 3, at which point the cut is continued at an angle of, for example, 30-40° (to the flashing axis), so as to form a "knee" 13 between the two parts of the cut. It should be mentioned that the view given in Fig 4 is that obtained when assuming that an imagined portion A of the flashing has been removed between the cut 10 and the imagined fracture line B. Thus, the angled lower part of the cut 10 extends out in the lower conical surface of the base section, at line 14. Since the cut 10 is not made precisely radially through the tubular main section 2 of the flashing and the base section 3 thereof, the width of the surfaces formed by said cut is greater than the thickness of the tubular wall, while mutually overlapping, inclined cut-defining surfaces are produced in the base section 3. This facilitates good abutment of the cut-defining surfaces when the flashing is fitted around a respective OMPΓ pipe and is to be bonded along the cut 10. In this way, it is also possible to use a flashing of a certain given dimension with pipes of slightly differing diame¬ ters, i.e. it is not necessary for the pipe and flashing to fit one another precisely, in order to obtain a satisfactory bond along the cut 10. As will be seen from Fig 4, the free edge of the base section 3 termi¬ nates in a narrow, flat annular surface 15, which may often serve to improve abutment of the base section with the respective wall or floor surface. The inherent resilience of the material from which the flashing is made causes the slitted flashing to quickly spring back to a pipe-embracing position, sub¬ sequent to being forced over a pipe, from one side thereof. As will be readily understood, however, the flashing may be cut along two opposite sides thereof, to divide it into two halves. These halves may be placed against and around a respective pipe from mutu¬ ally opposite sides thereof, and then suitably bonded together with the aid of an adhesive applied to the cut-defining surfaces, where the flashing halves abut one another. Suitably, the thus bonded flashing halves may be held together until the adhesive sets, by means of a clamping sleeve not shown. Conveniently, in the case of both the embodiment in which the flashing is slit along only one side and that in which the flashing is cut into two halves, the cut, or the edge surfaces of the flashing halves corresponding to the cuts made, can be so placed in the tubular wall of the main sec- tion 2, that the sectional area is greater than that shown in Fig 1. The slit will then correspond to a sec¬ tioning plane which deviates to a plane lying purely diametrically to the flashing. The undivided flashing, the flashing which has been slit along one side thereof, and the flashing which has been sectioned to provide two identical halves, are secured to a respective pipe in a suitable fashion, e.g. bonded thereto with the aid of an appro¬ priate adhesive. As will be understood, the flange may also be bonded to its respective abutment surface. It will also be understood that the aforedescribed embodiments of the flashing according to the invention at present preferred are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is solely restricted by the following claims. Various and alternative embodi¬ ments of the- flashing are also conceivable within the scope of the claims. JURHA OMPI .

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A flashing intended for fitting around a pipe in the region of a location at which the pipe enters, for example, a floor, ceiling or wall structure, there¬ by to form a moisture or liquid seal between the outer surface of the pipe nd the surface of said floor, ceiling etc., characterized in that the flashing in¬ cludes a tubular main section (2) , preferably in the form of a hollow cylinder, having provided on the inner surface thereof one or more portions of means which are intended to sealingly abut the outer surface of the pipe, and a base section (3) which is flared radially from one end of the main section and which forms a sealing flange (4) for sealing abutment with the sur¬ face of said floor, ceiling etc. 2. A flashing according to Claim 1, characterized in that the sealing portions of means on the inside surface of .the main section have the form of raised ridges or projections (5), which extend circumferenti- ally around said surface for example, and which are intended to enhance sealing contact with the pipe on which the flashing is fitted. 3. A flashing according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that the base section (3) is defined by conical surfaces (6,7) which form the upper side of the base section and the under-side thereof remote from the main section (2) , said conical surfaces having mutually different top angles, such that the thickness of the sealing flange (4) decreases in a direction towards the periphery of said flange. 4. A flashing according to any one of Claims 1-3, characterized in that the flashing is slit along at least one side thereof through a cut (10) , which e:-:-rends through both said main section (2) and said base sec¬ tion (3) . ' UREA QMPI 5. A flashing according to Claim 4, characterized in that the cut (10) is so placed in the tubular wall of the main section (2) that the width of respective surfaces formed by the cut is greater than the thick- ness of the tubular wall. 6. A flashing according to Claim 4, characterized in that the flashing is divided along two mutually opposite sides thereof so as to be in two identical halves, which are arranged to be joined together to form a single piece structure (1) subsequent to fitting said flashing halves to the pipe. 7. A flashing according to any one of Claims 1-6, characterized in that it is made of a hard material, such as a hard plastics material. 8. A flashing according to any one of Claims 1-6, characterized in that it is made of a soft material, such as a soft plastics material. _ OMPΓ

Inventors: ERIKSSON STELLAN, ERIKSSON, STELLAN
Applicants: INDOOR INNOVATION AB
Application year: 1984
Main classification: F16L5
IPC codes: F16L5