A SHEET METAL FLASHING MEMBER FOR FRAME STRUCTURES OF ROOF WINDOWS OR SIMILAR ROOF PENETRATING BUILDING STRUCTURES AND A FLASHING FRAME COMPRISING SUCH A MEMBER

Abstract: A flashing member for frame structures of roof windows with main frame site surfaces substantially perpendicular to the surrounding parts of the roof surface comprises a shaped corner piece made in one piece from folded sheet material and with a first pair of wall sections (1, 2) for covering end parts of main frame side members perpendicular to one another, and a second pair of wall sections (3, 4) for covering the parts of the roof surface which border on said main frame side member, and a corner section (5) for filling out between said second pair of wall sections (3, 4). The first and the second pair of wall sections and the corner section (1-5) are formed by folding from the same sheet billet, the parts (24, 25, 28-30) of the sheet material not being part of said wall sections and said corner section being folded for providing partly two double-walled plane foldings (26, 27), which are parallel with the roof surface but perpendicular to each other, between said corner section (5) and each theirs of said second pair of wall sections (3, 4), partly a double-walled triangular folding (31) between the corner section (5) and each theirs of said first pair of wall sections (1, 2).

Description: A SHEET KETAL FLASHING MEMBER FOR FRAME STRUCTURES OF ROOF WINDOWS OR SIMILAR ROOF PENETRATING BUILDING STRUCTURES AND A FLASHING FRAME COMPRISING SUCH A MEMBER The present invention relates to a sheet metal flashing member for frame structures of roof windows or similar roof penetrating building structures with main frame side surfaces substantially perpendicular to the surrounding parts of the roof surface, comprising a shaped corner piece made in one piece of folded εheet material and comprising a first pair of wall sections for covering end parts of main frame side memberε perpendicular to one another and a second pair of wall sections for covering the parts of the roof surface which border on said main frame side members. When flashing frame structures for roof windows to protect them from the weather it is common to use flashing covers of sheet metal, for inεtance aluminium, copper, steel or zinc. Conventionally, such flashing covers have been manufactured by ordinary tinman work from a plane sheet material which is profiled for the formation of two flanges for mounting against the outer side of a main frame member perpendicular to the roof surface and against the bordering part of the roof surface, respectively. The comparatively costly adjustment and asεembly work on location, which iε required when uεing this conventional craftmanship, may be avoided by use of pre-manufactured flashing members which are normally carried out in such a way that four flashing members for covering the four sideε of the frame εtructure are aεεembled by meanε of custom-made shaped corner pieces. DK Patent No. 143.297 discloses a shaped corner piece with a pair of wall sections for flashing end parts of mutually perpendicular sides of the frame structure and a ledge portion running around the corner in question in form of sheet pieces bent from the planes of the wall sections. By folding the partε of the basic sheet material which do not form part of the wall sections or the ledge portion, this known shaped corner piece may be manufactured without cracks or incisions in the sheet material, which means a reduced risk of leakage, just as labour iε saved due to the elimination of a part dY the cutting and welding work which has been uεed in the conventional manual produc¬ tion. As this known shaped corner piece only covers end parts of the mutually perpendicular side members of the main frame structure itself, the flashing of the part of the roof surface positioned opposite the corner has, however, still to be carried out by means of adequately cut partε of the profile frame pieceε, with which the εhaped corner piece is connected, which means that a certain cutting and assembly work iε εtill required on location with a subsequent risk of leakage, for instance as a consequence of badly made soldering. For use in connection with the same or other types of building εtructures other embodiments of prefabri- cated shaped corner pieces in form of flexible plastic film pieces are known from US Patent No. 4,700,512, or cast, possibly flexible plastic components, US Patent No. 4,635,409 and DE published specification No. 36 03 303. US Patent No. 3 247 632 discloεeε a flaεhing for roof windows, said flashing comprising a collar with wall sections for covering the end parts of the mutual¬ ly perpendicular sides of the main frame structure and of the parts of the roof surface adjacent to these sides. Thus, no care has been taken according to this publication in respect of covering the part of the roof surface opposite the very corner. On this background the object of the invention is to provide a flashing member comprising a shaped corner piece made by folding of a one-piece sheet billet, said corner piece not only comprising flaεhing wall sections for the mutually perpendicular sideε of the main frame εtructure, but also wall components for covering the adjacent parts of the roof surface all the way around the corner in question. In view of this a flashing member of the type stated iε according to the invention characteriεtic in that said shaped corner piece also comprises a corner section for filling up between said second pair of wall sections, whereby both the first and the second pair of wall sections and said corner εection are formed by folding from the εame sheet billet, the partε of the εheet material not being part of said wall sections and εaid corner εection being folded for providing partly two double-walled plane foldings which are parallel with the roof surface but perpendicular to each other, between said corner section and each theirs of said second pair of wall sections, partly a double-walled triangular folding between the corner section and each theirs of said first pair of wall sectionε. Hereby, a completely water and wind proof corner flashing is provided, said flashing requiring no adaptation on location. Advantageously, the shaped corner piece in connec- tion with said first pair of wall sections may comprise flange pieces for abutting the top sides of the respec¬ tive main frame side memberε. A flashing member for covering for instance the main frame bottom member of a roof window may in itself be made thereby that two shaped corner pieces designed as above are connected with a side flashing member by means of conventional connections, for instance solder¬ ing. In a preferred embodiment the flashing member according to the invention compriseε, however, two shaped corner pieces and a side flashing member extend¬ ing therebetween which are all made by folding from one and the same sheet billet, the side flaεhing member comprising two wall sections perpendicular to each other in connection with one of said first pair and said second pair of wall sections, respectively, in the respective shaped corner pieces. Such generally U-shaped flashing members will typically be designed for flashing the bottom member and the top member of a main frame structure for a roof window, whereby the part of the flashing member for the main frame top member abutting the roof surface may form a valley. A complete flashing frame, which in a simple way may be assembled on location without the need of soldering is obtained by comprising, with a view to being mounted along the main frame side members in parallel with the direction of the sloping of the roof, drain pieces with end portions which are doubled for providing an engagement flange for engaging the plane folding in a shaped corner piece perpendicular to the direction of the sloping of the roof. The invention will now be explained in detail in the following with reference to the schematic drawing, in which Fig. 1 iε a plane view of a εtarting εheet billet for uεe in the manufacture of a flashing member accord¬ ing to the invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the making of bending operations for producing a shaped corner piece by folding from a starting sheet billet as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows a part of a finished flashing member for mounting on a main frame bottom member of a roof window, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a side drain piece for connection with a flashing member as shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 1 εhowε in the right hand side a section of an embodiment of a starting sheet billet for a εhaped corner piece for a flashing member according to the invention and compriseε a firεt pair of wall εections 1 and 2 to be placed against end parts of the mutually perpendicular side members in a main frame εtructure for a roof window, a second pair of wall sectionε 3 and 4 intended for covering the partε of the roof εurface bordering such main frame side memberε and a corner piece 4 for filling out between the second pair of wall sectionε 3 and 4. The embodiment shown moreover compriseε, in connection with the firεt pair of wall sections 1 and 2, flange pieces 6 and 7 to be positioned in abutment with the top sides of the main frame members. The flange pieces 6 and 7 are at the top point 8 of the geometrical corner separated from each other by cutting along a 90° bent cutting line 9, 10. The shaped corner piece is made from the starting material shown by bending along a number of bending lines which appears most clearly from the sectional view in Fig. 2. The solid bending lines 11-16 indicate bending operations, in which the sheet material at one side of the bending line is bent in a direction inwards in the plane of the drawing relative to the sheet material at the other side of the bending line. Dashed bending lines 17-23 indicate on the other hand bending operations, in which the sheet material at one side of the bending line is bent in a direction outwards of the plane of the drawing relative to the sheet material at the other side of the bending line. The solid bending lines 11, 12 indicate thus 90° bendingε between the flange pieces 6, 7 and the firεt pair of wall εectionε 1 and 2, respectively, and the dashed bending lines 17,18 indicate 90° bendingε between one of the firεt pair of wall sections 1, 2 and one of the second pair of wall sections 3, 4. The solid bending lines 13, 14 and the dashed bending lineε 19, 20 indicate 180° bendings, by meanε of which partε 24 and 25 of the sheet material, which in the finished εhaped corner piece are not to form part of the wall εections 1-4 or the corner εection 5, are shaped into two double-walled, mutually perpendicu¬ lar plane foldings in parallel with the roof surface between the corner section 5 and each theirs of the εecond pair of wall sections 3 , 4 as shown in Fig. 3. The solid bending lineε 15, 16 and the daεhed bending lines 21-33 indicate similarly 180° bending operations, by means of which other parts 28-30 of the sheet material, which in the finished shaped corner piece are not to form part of the wall sectionε 1-4 or the corner εection 5, are formed into a double-walled triangular folding 31 between the corner section and each of the first wall sections 1, 2. With a view to obtaining an improved adaptation to a sharp corner edge between the outer sides of the main frame side members, the triangular folding 31 may be bent 90° along a bending line 32 which in Fig. 1 is shown with a dash-dot line. This is, however, not absolutely imperative. The shaped corner piece shown in the right hand side of Fig. 1 may in itself be connected with side flashing members in a conventional manner, for instance through soldering, but forms preferably part of a sub¬ stantially U-shaped flashing frame for mounting on the bottom member or the top member of a main frame struc- ture for a roof window. Such a flashing member com¬ prises as shown in the left hand side of Fig. 1 a further shaped corner piece 33 and a side flashing member 34 extending between the two shaped corner pieceε and may according to the invention in its entity be made from a single continuouε εheet billet. Fig. 2 iε a εectional view of parts of the shaped corner piece during an intermediate stage of the manufacturing procesε for a cloεer illuεtration of the bending operations. Fig. 3 showε a part of a finiεhed bottom flashing member 35 designed as explained above in connection with a subjacent skirt 36 of a manually deformable flaεhing material. By flaεhing members as shown in Fig. 3 mounted on the bottom member and the top member of a main frame structure for a roof window a complete flashing is obtained by mounting drain pieces 37 along the main frame side members as shown in Fig. 4. The particular design of the shaped corner pieces thus makes a most simple aεεembly poεεible by bending end portions of such drain pieces as shown at 38 for the formation of engagement flanges for engagement with the plane folding 27 of a shaped corner piece perpendicular to the direction of the roof pitch. Flashing frames manufactured in accordance with the invention may also be used in other types of roof penetrating building structures, for instance chimneys, by adapting the bendings between the wall sections at the sides of the building structure which do not form a right angle with the roof surface.

Claims: P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. A sheet metal flashing member for frame struc¬ tures of roof windows or similar roof penetrating building structures with main frame side surfaceε substantially perpendicular to the surrounding parts of the roof surface, comprising a shaped corner piece made in one piece of folded sheet material and comprising a first pair of wall sections (1, 2) for covering end parts of main frame side members perpendicular to one another and a second pair of wall sections (3, 4) for covering the parts of the roof surface which border on said main frame side members, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that said shaped corner piece also com¬ prises a corner section (5) for filling up between said second pair of wall sectionε (3,4) , whereby both the firεt and the second pair of wall sections and said corner section (1-5) are formed by folding from the same sheet billet, the partε (24, 25, 28-30) of the εheet material not being part of said wall sectionε and said corner section being folded for providing partly two double-walled plane foldings (26, 27) , which are parallel with the roof surface but perpendicular to each other, between said corner section (5) and each theirs of said second pair of wall sections (3, 4) , partly a double-walled triangular folding (31) between the corner section (5) and each theirε of said firεt pair of wall εections (1, 2) . 2. A flashing member according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the shaped corner piece in connection with said first pair of wall sections (1, 2) comprises flange pieces (6, 7) for abutting the top sides of the respective main frame side memberε. 3. A flashing member according to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in comprising two shaped corner pieces (33) and a side flashing member (34) extending therebetween which are all made by folding from one and the same sheet billet, the side flashing member comprising two wall sections perpendicular to each other in connection with one of said first pair and said second pair of wall sections, respectively, in the respective shaped corner pieces. 4. A sheet metal flashing frame for frame struc¬ tures of roof windows or similar roof penetrating building structureε, compriεing a flaεhing member according to claim 1, 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in compriεing, with a view to being mounted along the main frame εide members in parallel with the direction of the sloping of the roof, drain pieces (37) with end portions (38) which are doubled for providing an engagement flange for engaging the plane folding perpendicular to the direction of the sloping of the roof in a shaped corner piece.

Inventors: EDVARDSEN ALLAN, EDVARDSEN, ALLAN
Applicants: EDVARDSEN ALLAN, RASMUSSEN KANN IND AS, EDVARDSEN, ALLAN, V. KANN RASMUSSEN INDUSTRI A/S
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E04D13
IPC codes: E04D13