BUILDING COMPONENT

Abstract: A building component comprises a cladding unit (8/8') having an overhang portion (12) and a securing portion (10/10'). The outer face (14A) of the overhang portion (12) serves as a barge/fascia board. The lower face (14B) of the overhang portion serves as a soffit. The cladding unit (8/8') is thin walled and of sideways S-shape with three spaced upright parallel walls (14A, 10A, 10B). Two walls namely one outer wall (14A) and the centre wall (10A) are connected by a lower plate (14B) at their lower edges and form the overhang (12) and two walls namely the centre wall (10A) and the second outer wall (10B) are connected by an upper plate (11) at their upper edges and form the securing portion (10/10').

Description: BUILDING COMPONENT This invention relates to a building component for use in constructing a roof for a building primarily, but not only, a building constructed having a "double skin" outer wall(s) particularly, but not necessarily, having a cavity between said skins, the cavity normally being filled or substantially so with an insulation material. While this invention is primarily concerned with the provision of gable wall overhangs, barge boards and soffits, is also applicable to the provision of front/rear wall overhangs, fascia boards and soffits. Heretofore, overhangs have been constructed of timber as have barge boards and soffits which require regular painting maintenance with both barge boards and soffits being susceptible to rot and decay and requiring periodic replacement. Separate barge boards and soffits have also been provided of synthetic plastics material. While these are beneficial in requiring little maintenance they tend to degrade when exposed to sunlight, due to uitra violet radiation and thermal stresses due to temperature fluctuations These existing building components are disadvantageous and an object of the present invention is to obviate or mitigate these disadvantages. Also, a requirement of building regulations currently in force is the capping or closing-off of the top of a cavity. This capping operation is normally achieved by fabrication on site using a board of natural or synthetic material in the same, a preceding or a succeeding operation including the gable wall overhang, the barge board and the soffit. Accordingly, the present invention is a building component comprising a cladding unit having an overhang portion and a securing portion, the outer face of the overhang portion serving as a barge/fascia board A lower face of the overhang portion beneficially serves as a soffit. Preferably, the cladding unit is thin walled and of sideways S-shape with three spaced upπght parallel walls, two walls of which one outer wall and the centre wall being connected by a lower plate at their lower edges and two walls, the centre wall and the second outer wall being connected by an upper plate at their upper edges. The one outer wall to serve as the barge/fascia board may be of greater length than the other two walls which may be of equal length or substantially so The lower plate beneficially serves as the soffit The centre wall, upper plate and the second wall preferably serve as the securing portion to fit over the wall The securing portion also includes a capping tile portion to extend across the cavity In a first aspect of the invention, the upper plate is of dimension to fit over the double skinned wall of the building whereby to serve as an included capping tile portion In a second aspect of the invention, the upper plate is of dimension to fit over the outer skin of the wail of the building and the capping tile portion is a second lower plate extending out from the second wall away from the centre wall A fourth upright wall may be provided at the outer edge of the second lower plate to abut or be contiguous against the inner skin of the wail of the building At the transition between the one outer wall and the first lower plate, a drip provision is oeneficially provided in the form of a channel or an elongate protuberance The cladding unit is desirably the same or substantially the same length as a building block and is for use with others of its kind in being laid side-by-side as a course on top of a wall Alternatively, the cladding unit may be provided in desired multi-block lengths Preferably aiso, the cladding unit is made of any durable material, for example cementitious material and desirably has a mat or fibre reinforcement of synthetic material Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which - Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a top and one gable of the building having a roof support structure with a gable overhang, a barge board and a soffit constructed conventionally; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a part of a top and one gable of a building having a roof support structure with a course of cladding units according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a top and one gable of a building having a roof support structure with a course of cladding units according to a second embodiment of the present invention, Figs 4A and 4B are respectively a perspective view and a side elevational view of a cladding unit according to a first embodiment; Figs. 5A and 5B are respectively a perspective view and a side elevational view of a cladding unit according to a second embodiment, Figs. 6A and 6B are respectively, a perspective view and a side elevational view of a cladding unit according to a second embodiment with an extended overhang portion; and Figs. 7 to 1 1 are side elevational views of cladding units according to a simplified embodiment, Figs 8 and 11 showing an extended overhang Referring to the drawings, a building component comprises a cladding unit 8/8' having a securing portion 10/10' and an overhang portion 12 The securing portion also includes a capping tile portion to extend across the cavity The cladding unit 8/8' is thin walled and of sideways S-shape with three spaced upright parallel walls 14A, 10A, 10B, two walls of which one outer 14A and the centre wall 10A being connected by a lower plate 14B at their lower edges, and two walls of which, the centre wall 10A and the second outer wall 10B being connected by an upper plate 1 1 at their upper edges The one outer wall 14A to serve as the barge/fascia board is of greater height than the other two walls 10A.10B which are of equal length or substantially so The lower plate 14B serves as the soffit The centre wall 10A, upper plate 1 1 and the second wail 10B serve as the secuπng portion 10/10' to fit over the wall 16/17 of a building In a first embodiment (as shown in Figs 4A.4B) of the invention, the upper plate 11 is of dimension to fit over a double skinned wall of the building whereby to serve as an included capping tile portion to overly and close off the cavity between both skins in the wall In a second embodiment (as shown in Figs 5A.5B) of the invention, the upper plate 1 1 is of dimension to fit over the outer skin of a wall of the building and the capping tile portion is a second lower plate 9 extending out from the second wall 10B away from the centre wall 10A A fourth upright wall 26 is provided at the outer edge of the second lower piate 9 to abut or be contiguous against the inner skin of the wall of the building In both embodiments, at the transition between the one outer wall 14A and the first lower plate 14B, a dπp provision is provided in the form of a channel 24 (Figs 4A to 9) or an elongate protuberance 24' (Figs 10 and 11 ) Conveniently, the cladding unit 8/8' is the same or substantially the same length as a building block and is for use with others of its kind in being laid side-by- side as a course on top of a wall 16/17 with a securing portion 10/10' thereover and the overhang portion 12 projecting outwardly beyond the wall 16/17 The cladding unit 8/8' is made of any durable material for example cementitious material, and can be coloured to suit a particular colour scheme for the rest of the normally painted or coloured parts of the building, for example window frames or doors Corner or end units 18 are provided to terminate a course of cladding units 8/8' as shown in Fig 2 & Fig 3 laid on top of the gable wall 16 in the same manner as conventional bricks or blocks are laid using mortar or formed from the same cladding material An apex 20 is formed by providing mitre sides to the cladding units 8/8' to be abutting at the vertex of the wall The top surfaces of the cladding unit 8/8' are flush with the top surfaces of a series of rafters 22 which together provide a roof support structure for a tiled or slated roof including battens and felt/underlay. The outer face of the overhang portion 12 when being moulded may be provided with a wood grain or other ornamental/decorative effect A gable and front/rear overhang, when formed in the manner described above, is beneficial over the existing provision of such and requires little or no maintenance Although the invention has been described in connection with pitched gable walls, the building component can equally be used with gable walls of hiσped or flat- roofed structures, and with front and rear walls of pitched gable hipped or flat-roofed structures Also, the invention can be used on walls constructed from two different types of material, for example a timber inner skin and an outer brick or other type of cladding In this case, the insulation for the cavity may be secured to the inner skin pπor to the creation of the cavity by the erection of the outer skin Further, although the invention has been described for use with cavity walls it is usable on sohα walls formed, for example by constructing the wall from blocks on their 'flat' rather than on 'edge' The invention should be construed accordingly In a first modification of both embodiments, a cladding unit is provided in a desired multi-block length equal to, and to locate between a formed apex unit and a corner or end unit in each gable wall Such length units may also be used in multiples along front or rear walls between corner or end units In a second modification of both embodiments, the lower plate 14B is of increased width to provide an extended overhang portion as shown in Figs 6A 6B, 8,11 In a first modification of the second embodiment, the inner end of the securing portion of the cladding unit is rebated to accommodate a heat insulation batt, namely the securing portion 10/10' has at its inner end a heat insulation batt secured against the outer side of wall 26 or the capping tile portion In a further modification of the second embodiment, the fourth wall 26 may be omitted In a simplified embodiment as shown in Figs 7 and 8 no capping tile portion is provided Variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention described above and as claimed hereinafter

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A building component comprising a cladding unit having an overhang portion and a securing portion, the outer face of the overhang portion serving as a barge/fascia board 2. A building component as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein the lower face of the overhang portion serves as a soffit. 3 A building component as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the cladding unit is thin walled and of sideways S-shape with three spaced upright parallel walls, two walls of whιch ; one outer wall and the centre wall,beιng connected by a lower plate at their lower edges and two walls, the centre wall and the second outer wall ; being connected by an upper plate at their upper edges. 4 A building component as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the one outer wall to serve as the barge/fascia board is of greater length than the other two walls which may be of equal length or substantially so 5 A building component as claimed in Claim 3 or 4, wherein the lower plate serves as the soffit. 6. A building component as claimed in Claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the centre wall, upper plate and the second wall serve as the securing portion to fit over the wall of the building. 7 A building component as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the secuπng portion also includes a capping tile portion to extend across the cavity 8 A building component as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the upper plate is of dimension to fit over the double skinned wall of the building whereby to serve as an included capping tile portion 9 A building component as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the upper plate is of dimension to fit over the outer skin of the wall of the building and the capping tile portion is a second lower plate extending out from the second wall away from the centre wall 10 A building component as claimed in Claim 9 wherein a fourth upright wall is provided at the outer edge of the second lower plate to abut or be contiguous against the inner skin of the wall of the building 11 A building component as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims 3 to 10, wherein at the transition between the one outer wall and the first lower plate a drip provision is provided in the form of a channel or an elongate protuberance 12 A building component as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the cladding unit is the same or substantially the same length as a building block and is for use with others of its kind in being laid side-by-side as a course on top of a wall. 13 A building component as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims 1 to 1 1 , wherein the cladding unit is provided in multi-block lengths 14. A building component as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the cladding unit is made of any durable material. 15. A building component as claimed in Claim 14, wherein a mat or fibre reinforcement of synthetic material is embedded in the material. 16. A building component substantially as hereindescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Inventors: SCHOFIELD FREDERICK ANDREW, SCHOFIELD, FREDERICK, ANDREW
Applicants: SCHOFIELD FREDERICK ANDREW, SCHOFIELD, FREDERICK, ANDREW
Application year: 1997
Main classification: E04D13
IPC codes: E04B7, E04D13