Abstract:
An assembly for fastening a conduit to a flashing structure that is typically secured to a shingled roof. The apparatus includes an adjustable clamp that can be secured to a cap on the flashing. A conduit is laid on top of the cap and the adjustable clamp is positioned on top of the conduit and is snapped in place along the perimeter of the cap. An adjustable bolt is threaded through the top of the clamp with a curved saddle that resides beneath the clamp and conforms to the shape of the conduit&#39;s outer surface. The bolt can then be adjusted to tighten the conduit to the cap. An exemplary use of the clamp involves securing conduit for running electrical wiring throughout a solar panel array.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for fastening a conduit to a flashing structure that is typically secured to a shingled roof. More specifically, the apparatus includes an adjustable clamp that can be secured to a cap on the flashing. In an exemplary embodiment, a conduit is laid on top of the cap and the adjustable clamp is positioned on top of the conduit and is snapped in place along the perimeter of the cap. An adjustable bolt is threaded through the top of the clamp with a curved saddle that resides beneath the clamp and conforms to the shape of the conduit&#39;s outer surface. The bolt can then be adjusted to tighten the conduit to the cap. An exemplary use of the clamp involves securing rows of conduits for running electrical wiring throughout a solar panel array next to, but unconnected to the flashings that are used to support the mounts for the solar panels. 
         [0002]    Alternate exemplary embodiments of the adjustable clamp, the cap, and the assembly for providing a way to secure the conduit are also disclosed. 
       Description of the Related Art 
       [0003]    Any discussion of the prior art in the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that the prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field. 
         [0004]    The installation of solar panel arrays on residential roofs can be arduous and time-consuming. Depending on the array design, the components required to install the array can make the installation process even more difficult. In a typical array, several electrical cables are used to deliver power from the solar panels to electrical storage units away from the array. One way to provide this is to use conduits to secure, protect, and hide the cables from plain view. The present assembly provides a way for delivering the conduit from the array to the storage units that is both efficient and aesthetically advantageous over the prior art. 
         [0005]    The patent application publication issued to Hobson (U.S. 2015/0323101) discloses a line clamp that uses base and an enveloping clamp that holds a cable that includes a securing clamp to lock the enveloping clamp to the base. This device, however, is not adaptable to a solar panel flashing mechanism and does not disclose a combination of a flashing cap combined with an adjustable clamp for securing conduit of various diameters. 
         [0006]    In another related prior art patent issued to Rinderer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,614), a one-piece conduit clip is disclosed. Rinderer discloses a clamp that secures a conduit using an adjustable clamp. But as in Hobson, the apparatus does not disclose a flashing cap that is adaptable to a solar panel flashing mechanism combined with an adjustable clamp for securing conduit of various diameters. 
         [0007]    The present invention overcomes these limitations and offers a solution that provides an apparatus that utilizes a u-shaped clamp with an adjustable securing mechanism that fastens conduit of varying diameters in combination with a locking cap that fits over a flashed roof attachment. When used on multiple flashings, multiple rows of conduit or other similar components can be secured and connected between solar panel arrays and power storage devices away from the arrays that require minimal parts and tools that is easy to install, use, and manufacture. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The invention is summarized below only for purposes of introducing embodiments of the invention. The ultimate scope of the invention is to be limited only to the claims that follow the specification. 
         [0009]    It is an object of this invention to provide an assembly for securing a conduit to a flashed roof attachment. 
         [0010]    It is a further object of this invention to provide a clamp that is coupled to a cap that enables a conduit to fit between the cap and the clamp. 
         [0011]    It is a further object of this invention that the clamp is generally u-shaped or c-shaped. 
         [0012]    It is a further object of this invention that the cap is capable of being secured to a flashing. 
         [0013]    It is a further object of this invention that the clamp comprises a clamping bolt that coupled to the clamp and used to secure the conduit to the cap. 
         [0014]    It is a further object of this invention that a saddle is coupled to one end of clamping bolt and can engage and conform to the shape of the conduit. 
         [0015]    It is a further object of this invention that the clamping bolt is adjustable through an opening in the clamp. 
         [0016]    It is a further object of this invention that the clamp comprises hooks that are coupled to a groove in the cap. 
         [0017]    It is a further object of this invention that the cap can be secured to the flashing in multiple directional orientations. 
         [0018]    It is a further object of this invention that the cap is secured to the flashing by rotating it into a locked position on the flashing. 
         [0019]    It is a further object of this invention that the conduit is secured to a plurality of caps by securing an elongated channel to a plurality of caps and securing the conduit onto the elongated channel. 
         [0020]    It is a further object of this invention to use securing bolts to secure the elongated channel to the plurality of caps through apertures in the elongated channel and a plurality of holes in the plurality of caps. 
         [0021]    A person with ordinary skill in the relevant art would know that any shape or size of the elements described below may be adopted. Any combinations of suitable number, shape, and size of the elements described below may be used. Also, any materials suitable to achieve the object of the current invention may be chosen as well. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0022]    A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered with the following illustrative figures. In the following figures, like reference numbers refer to similar elements and steps throughout the figures. 
           [0023]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary conduit mount assembly. 
           [0024]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective exploded view of the exemplary conduit mount assembly shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0025]      FIGS. 3 a -3 d    illustrate perspective views of four exemplary embodiments of an adjustable clamp in the assembly of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary flashing with a base that includes a threaded connector that is installed on a shingled roof. 
           [0027]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective exploded view of the same flashing shown in  FIG. 4  with an exemplary screw that is used to secure the flashing to the roof through the threaded connector. 
           [0028]      FIG. 6  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the threaded connector of the flashing shown in  FIG. 4  with the screw fully inserted through the threaded connector. 
           [0029]      FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view of a cap that is secured to the threaded connector on the flashing shown in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0030]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an exemplary conduit shown lying on top of the cap illustrated in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0031]      FIG. 9 a    illustrates a side view of the adjustable clamp shown in  FIG. 3 a    prior to securing it to the cap of  FIG. 7 . 
           [0032]      FIG. 9 b    illustrates the same side view in  FIG. 9 a    showing the adjustable clamp in a secured position on the cap. 
           [0033]      FIG. 10 a    illustrates a perspective bottom view of the cap shown in  FIG. 7  with threaded holes on the sides for receiving securing bolts. 
           [0034]      FIG. 10 b    illustrates a cross-sectional view of the cap. 
           [0035]      FIGS. 11 a -11 c    illustrate perspective views of an exemplary conduit clamp assembly with the conduit positioned at different angles. 
           [0036]      FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    illustrate top and bottom views of another exemplary embodiment of a cap with holes on the sides for receiving securing bolts and nuts. 
           [0037]      FIGS. 13 a  and 13 b    illustrate perspective views of the alternate embodiment of the cap shown in  FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    showing the securing bolts being inserted from the bottom of the cap holes. 
           [0038]      FIGS. 14 a  and 14 b    illustrate perspective bottom views of the cap shown in  FIGS. 13 a  and 13 b    showing nuts inserted into the hexagonal holes for receiving securing bots from the top of the cap. 
           [0039]      FIG. 15  illustrates a perspective view of a conduit guide being secured on top of the caps shown in  FIGS. 10 a , 13 a   - 14   b.    
           [0040]      FIG. 16  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the conduit guide being secured on top of an exemplary cap shown in  FIG. 10   a.    
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0041]    In the following description, and for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are provided to thoroughly understand the various aspects of the invention. It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the relevant arts, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown or discussed more generally in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In many cases, a description of the operation is sufficient to enable one to implement the various forms of the invention, particularly when the operation is to be implemented in software. It should be noted that there are many different and alternative configurations, devices and technologies to which the disclosed embodiments may be applied. The full scope of the invention is not limited to the example(s) that are described below. 
         [0042]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a conduit clamp assembly  100  that is secured to a flashing  110 . The flashing  110  is typically installed on a shingled roof. The conduit clamp assembly  100  includes an adjustable conduit clamp  200  and a conduit cap  300 . When fully assembled and in use, the assembly  100  provides a way for installing conduit  600  along multiple conduit clamp assemblies  100  on flashings  110  as shown in  FIGS. 8-9   b . This enables electrical wiring to be delivered from a solar panel module to a storage device in an efficient manner that can hide the conduit from plain view in a way that is anchored to the roof. 
         [0043]      FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded view of  FIG. 1  and shows the assembly  100  in more detail. The base  500  of the flashing  110  includes a threaded connector  510 . The exemplary embodiment shown is an Ironridge, Inc. FlashFoot 2 product, but any suitable flashing with a compatible connector that can receive a cap is acceptable. A screw  400  is used to secure the flashing  110  to a roof by inserting the screw  400  through an connector opening  520  in the threaded connector  510 . Once secured, the conduit cap  300  is fastened to the threaded connector  510  by rotating it into a locked position along the threads of the connector  510 . The conduit clamp  200  is then secured to the conduit cap  300  by pressing it downward, or pulling it axially down the conduit onto the side  317  as shown and will be described in  FIGS. 9 a   - 9   b.    
         [0044]      FIGS. 3 a -3 d    illustrate four exemplary embodiments of the conduit clamp  200 . The clamp  200  includes a generally u-shaped or c-shaped (the terms are used interchangeably) body  210  with a clamping bolt  230  that is inserted through an opening  231  on the body  210 . In this embodiment, the opening  231  is on the top end  232  of the body, but it is feasible to provide the opening  231  on other portions of the body  210 . In these embodiments, the clamping bolt  230  is a standard threaded hexagonal bolt, but any suitably shaped bolt is also acceptable, and the opening  231  is threaded for rotatably coupling the clamping bolt  230  through the opening  231 , but other suitable means to secure the clamping bolt  230  to the clamp can be used as well. On the terminating end of the clamping bolt  230  is a saddle  240 . In this exemplary embodiment, the saddle  240  is rounded or arced and generally conforms to the shape of a typical cylindrically shaped conduit, but it can be of any suitable shape just so that it is capable of securing engaging and stabilizing the conduit from moving laterally along the cap  300 . The clamping bolt  230  can be adjusted vertically up or down by rotating it, which allows the saddle  240  to secure conduits with varying diameters. As shown in each of these figures, each edge of the clamp body  210  includes at least one hook ( 220 ,  222 ,  224 , and  226 ). These hooks are used as locking apparatuses to snap the clamp  200  to the cap  300  as will be described further in  FIGS. 9 a -9 b   . In  FIG. 3 a   , each end of the body  210  includes a pair of hooks  220 .  FIG. 3 d    also illustrates an alternate embodiment with slightly different-shaped hooks  226 .  FIGS. 3 b  and 3 c    illustrate a single-hook embodiment  222  and  224  respectively with each of these hooks having different variations of j-shaped hooks. The clamp bodies  210  shown in  FIGS. 3 a -3 d    are all generally u-shaped or c-shaped, but the shape can be of any suitable form with rounded or squared top ends  232  or slightly varying leg shapes as shown, for example in  FIG. 3 c   , as long as the clamp  200  is capable of snapping onto the sides of the cap  300 . 
         [0045]      FIGS. 4 and 5  illustrate the flashing  110  installed on a typical shingled roof. One side of the flashing  110  is inserted between successive shingles and then as shown in  FIG. 5 , the screw  400  is inserted through the connector opening  520  of the threaded connector  510  and into the roof so that the flashing  110  is secured tightly to the roof. A typical securing screw  400  is threaded  410  on one end, although any suitable screw that can be secured through the connector opening  520  in the connector  510  is acceptable.  FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of how the connector  510  and the base  500 . This view also includes a sealed portion  505  that includes a load distribution plate  508  and includes the area between the connector  510  and the distribution plate  508  of the flashing  110  and is typically pre-fabricated in the manufacturing process of the flashing to provide greater protection against leaking. 
         [0046]      FIGS. 10 a  and 10 b    illustrate the details of the exemplary cap  300 . As shown in  FIG. 10 a   , the cap  300  includes a top head  310  that further comprises a top face or surface  305  (as shown in  FIG. 12 a   ) and an optional pair of cap ends  315 . In this embodiment, the top head  310  is generally round although other suitable shapes can be used. The cap ends  315  extend or protrude outward from the head  310  on the top face  305  although it is also feasible for the ends to be part of a head  310  with a uniform diameter. It should also be understood that the cap ends  315  are included in this embodiment, but are not required to secure the conduit  600  in the embodiment using the clamp  200  as shown, for example, in  FIGS. 9 a -9 b   . The head  310  also includes a side  317  that extends downward around the perimeter of the head  310  and forms a recessed area or grove  316  that will subsequently receive the hooks ( 220 ,  222 ,  224 , or  226 ) when the clamp  200  is secured. The cap ends  315  also enable easier gripping of the cap  300  so that it can be rotated. Each of the cap ends  315  include a hole  320  that can receive a securing bolt as described in  FIG. 16 . The hole  320  may be threaded or include a threaded insert. The cap  300  also includes a base  330  that is generally cylindrical in shape but can also be other suitable shapes. This exemplary embodiment of the base  330  is also hollow and includes a threaded portion  325  on the inside of the base  330  such that the threads are adapted to conform to the threads on the connector  510  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The cap  300  also includes a snap channel and ring  331  so that when the cap  300  is rotated into place on the connector  510  as shown in  FIG. 7 , the cap  300  will snap into place when it locks onto the connector  510 . 
         [0047]    Once the cap  300  is secured to the connector  510 ,  FIG. 8  illustrates the next step of laying an exemplary conduit  600  on top of the top surface  305  of the top head  310  of the cap  300 . The conduit  600  can be of any suitable shape, but it is typically cylindrical as shown so that it can conform to the shape of the arced or curved saddle  240 . 
         [0048]      FIGS. 9 a  and 9 b    illustrate the final step in securing the conduit  600  to the cap  300 . As shown in  FIG. 9 a   , the cap  300  and clamp  200  of  FIG. 3 a    is used to demonstrate this step. The clamp  200  is placed on top of the cap  300  so that the hooks  220  rest on the top face  305  of the cap. Typically, the body  210  of the clamp is made of a resilient material that enables the legs of the body  210  to extend outward and return to their default position once no outward force is applied to the legs. In this exemplary embodiment, the hooks  220  can be secured at any points along the top face  305  of the cap except for the cap ends  315 . The installer than applies a downward force on the top of the clamp  200  so that the hooks  220  extend outward and snap into place in the groove  316  as shown in  FIG. 9 b   . Once the hooks  220  are snapped into place, the clamping bolt  230  is then rotated so that the arced saddle  240  can be moved downward and engage the conduit  600  so that it secures the conduit  600  in place on the top face  305  of the cap  300 . The clamps  200  can be also be pulled sideways along the conduit  600  until the hooks  220  snap into the groove  316 . 
         [0049]      FIGS. 11 a -11 c    illustrate various locations that the clamp  200  can be placed so that the conduit  600  can be positioned around the full 360 degrees of the cap  300 . This is typically done by rotating cap  300  on the flashing to the locked position, which is typically so that the cap ends  315  are aligned in a North/South or an East/West direction (but either directions could be used as well), and then rotating the clamp  200  around the groove  316  of the cap  300 , to a desired location, which enables the conduit  600  to be aligned at any angle with respect to the flashing  110 . 
         [0050]      FIG. 15  illustrates an alternate exemplary embodiment of an assembly for installing and securing a conduit  600  in a top-down fashion between flashings  110 . An elongated channel  700  is secured to a pair of conduit caps  300  on flashings  110  as shown. The elongated channel  700  can be a strut channel, or any suitable elongated channel that includes apertures  710  to allow for securing bolts. The elongated channel  700  is secured to the top faces  305  of the caps  300  by using securing bolts like, for example, hex bolts  328  as shown in  13   a  and  13   b  through apertures  710  on the respective channel ends  720  of the elongated channel  700  and through holes  320  as shown in  FIG. 12 a   . It is also understood that the elongated channel  700  can be secured to the caps by using an adhesive or hooks on the channel  700  that can be clamped on similar to the clamping action described in  FIGS. 9 a -9 b   . The channel ends  720  are not restricted to the edges of the elongated channel, but can also include the interior portions of the elongated channel  700 . Once the elongated channel  700  is secured to the caps  300 , multiple conduits  600  or other components such as boxes, etc. can be secured on top of the elongated channel  700  using hardware (not shown). 
         [0051]      FIGS. 12 a  and 12 b    illustrate an alternate exemplary embodiment of the cap  300 . As shown in  FIG. 12 b   , the cap ends  315  have a hexagonally-shaped recessed space  322 . The exemplary recessed space  322  and enables the hexagonal bolt  328  (typically threaded) as shown in  FIGS. 13 a -13 b    to fit through the holes  320  that extend from the top surface  305  of the head  310  to the bottom of the cap end  315  and allow the head of the securing bolt  328  to rest inside the recessed space  322 . Once the securing bolt  328  is placed through the hole  320  and the hexagonal head of the securing bolt  328  is fitted inside the recessed space  322 , the apertures  710  of the elongated channel  700  are then placed on top of the securing bolts  328  at each end of the elongated channel  700  as shown in  FIG. 15 . A nut is then used to secure each of the securing bolts  328  so that the elongated channel  700  is firmly in place.  FIGS. 14 a  and 14 b    show alternate exemplary embodiments of that utilize hollow, threaded, hexagonal nuts  332  for receiving a threaded bolt from the top of the cap  300  to secure the elongated channel  700  to the caps  300 . Hexagonal nuts  332  can be press-fit into recess  322  at the manufacturing stage so they will hold in place when installing a securing bolt  328  from the top down. 
         [0052]      FIG. 16  shows a cross-sectional view of the installation as shown in  FIG. 15  and using the caps  300  as shown in  FIG. 10 a    with a threaded insert in holes  320 , which alternatively eliminates the need for nuts  332 . The illustration shows a pair of threaded bolts  328  being inserted through the holes  320  of the cap ends  315  and securing the elongated channel  700  to the top face  305  of the cap  300 . 
         [0053]    Once the assembly is completed for one cap  300 , the installation steps as described above can be repeated until the elongated channel  700  is secured to the roof with the flashings  110  to form a bridge for installing multiple conduits  600 .