GB2591267A

GB2591267A - Surfacing assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2591267A
Application number: GB2000974.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dormer Darren
Original assignee: Nexus Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Nexus Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2020-01-23
Filing date: 2020-01-23
Publication date: 2021-07-28
Also published as: GB202000974D0

Abstract

The surfacing assembly, e.g. exterior decking, has support means 80 having at least a pair of parallel support members extending in a longitudinal direction, supporting longitudinal surface members 85 which extend in the same direction and are secured to the support members. The support means 80 may comprise individual support beams e.g triangular bars 30 or a corrugated sheet having triangular or trapezoidal peaks 81, with sloping sides 82 and flat valleys 83, the surface members e.g. decking boards, having corresponding complementary rebates 86 for interlocking in an interference fit, with a continuous flat upper surface. Additional fastening screws or adhesives may also be used. Various interlocking formations, such at ribs/protrusions 126, 134, slots with rigid pliable insert rod 141, saddle caps 130, mounting member 161 with T-piece 166 are disclosed, some allowing snap fit connection. Wood, composite wood, plastic, tile, stone, or metal may be used. Also claimed is a system wherein decking boards are perpendicular to supports. The system may be used for wall cladding also.

Description

SURFACING ASSEMBLY

This invention relates to a surfacing assembly particularly, although not exclusively, for exterior decking installations or wall cladding.

Decking is usually installed to a sub-frame consisting of a series of parallel beams supported by cross beams, which, in turn, are supported by vertical posts or a pedestal. Linear decking planks are then laid orthogonally to the longitudinal direction of the beams. Such a prior art arrangement is shown in Figures la and lb of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure la shows a perspective view of a known decking arrangement, and Figure lb shows an end view of the arrangement shown in Figure la.

Referring to Figures la and lb, parallel beams 1 extending in a longitudinal direction, support orthogonally arranged surface members, or decking planks, 2. The aforementioned cross beams and vertical support posts are not shown in these Figures. The surface member 2 is, typically, secured to the parallel beams 1 by screws.

The present invention seeks to provide a surfacing assembly which is speedier to install and which has greater strength with the ability to more readily remove or replace surface members and which may provide more accurate and consistent spacing of support members.

According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided a surfacing assembly including support means having at least one pair of substantially parallel support members extending in a longitudinal direction and which support a longitudinal surface member that is arranged to be secured in said longitudinal direction to said support members.

Preferably, the support means has a plurality of longitudinally extended corrugations forming peaks and troughs and a respective surface member is arranged to have at least a portion thereof located in a respective trough.

Advantageously, an upper surface portion of said surface members is arranged to present a substantially continuous surface uninterrupted by said peaks.

Advantageously, each surface member has longitudinally extending sides which are arranged to be supported by opposing side walls of the trough in which said surface member is located.

Conveniently, the longitudinally extending sides have a geometric profile which conforms with a geometric profile provided on the opposing side walls of the trough.

In one embodiment, the sides of either the surface member or trough are provided with one or more longitudinally extending portions and a recess is provided in a mating side of the surface member or trough, whereby the surface member is arranged to snap-fit into the trough.

In another embodiment, a protruding portion of a mating recess is provided on one or more saddle members mounted over a peak of said support means.

Advantageously, a pair of corrugations are formed in a single sheet of material. Conveniently, a pair of corrugations are formed in a single sheet of material and affixed to a planar support member.

In another variant of the invention, a pair of corrugations are each separately formed and joined at longitudinally spaced intervals by spacer means.

Conveniently, the corrugations are undulations that have sloping sides that terminate at said peak, and said trough has sides interconnected by a valley.

In an alternative embodiment, the corrugations are undulations that have a substantially trapezoidal transverse cross-section to provide a substantially flat planar peak and said trough has sides interconnected by a valley.

Advantageously, the surface member is longitudinally arranged to be supported by a pair of adjacent flat planar peaks of the support member.

Advantageously, the corrugations have transversely spaced opposing longitudinal sides and connection means are provided so that plural corrugations may be connected together.

Conveniently, the surface member is affixed to the support means by one of friction, screwing, adhesive, supports, snap fit and clips.

Advantageously, the surface member is made of one of wood, composite wood material, tile, stone, paver, metal, and plastics.

Conveniently, the support means is made of wood, metal, plastics, and a combination of metal and plastics.

Preferably, the support means is located on one of a sub-frame of beams, a continuous horizontal surface, and a vertical wall or similar surface.

In a further embodiment, the support means has a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations forming peaks and troughs with at least some of the peaks having at least one mounting member that is arranged to be located over said peak, said mounting member having a platform arranged to support the underside of a surface member, and said mounting member also having securing means to locate said surface member in position.

Preferably, each support member has sides that slope inwardly in a direction away from a beam which is transverse to said longitudinal direction and said support member is affixed to said beam. In such an embodiment, conveniently the beam is provided with notches to conform with mating sides of said support member. Alternatively, the support member is mounted on top of said beam and secured in position by a spacer member arranged to locate on said beam and between two sides of opposed support members.

According to a further aspect of this invention, there is provided a surfacing assembly including a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations and at least one surface member mounted transversely to the longitudinal direction of said corrugations.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure la shows a perspective view of a known decking arrangement, and Figure lb shows an end view of the arrangement shown in Figure la, Figure 2a shows a perspective view of a surfacing assembly in accordance with this invention, Figure 2b shows an end view of the surfacing assembly shown in Figure 2a, Figure 3a shows a second embodiment of a surfacing assembly in accordance with this invention, Figure 3b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 3a, Figure 4a shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of a surfacing assembly in accordance with this invention, Figure 4b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 4a, Figures 5a -7a show perspective views of alternative forms of support member used in this invention, Figures 5b -7b show end views of the view shown in Figures 5a -7a respectively, Figure 8a shows a perspective view of another support member and alternative forms of surfacing member, Figure 8b shows an end view of the arrangement shown in Figure 8a, Figure 9a shows a perspective view of a further embodiment of a support member, Figure 9b shows an end view of the support member shown in Figure 9a, Figure 10a shows a perspective view of yet another support member which may be used in the surfacing assembly of this invention, Figure 11a shows a perspective view of a pair of the support members shown in Figure 10a connected together, Figure 11b shows an end view of the arrangement shown in Figure 11a, Figure 12a shows a perspective view of two different ways in which a surface member may be held by the support member, Figure 12b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 12a, Figure 13a shows a perspective view of a further manner in which a surface member may be secured to a support member, Figure 13b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 13a, Figure 14a shows a perspective view of yet another manner of securing a surface member to the support member, Figure 14b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 14a, Figure 15b shows a further form of securing a surface member to a support member, Figure 16a shows a perspective view of another aspect of this invention, Figure 166 shows an end view of the perspective view shown in Figure 16a, Figure 17a shows a perspective view of a further aspect of this invention, and Figure 17b shows an end view of the embodiment shown in Figure 17a.

In the Figures like reference numerals denote like parts.

Referring to Figures 2a and 2b, parallel, longitudinally extending support beams 21, 22 may be laid directly onto a planar surface, such as sand/cement or, more usually, secured to beams (not shown) which extend transversely to the longitudinal direction of the support members 21, 22. The support members 21_ may be rectangular or square cross-section and the alternative support members 22 have sides that slope inwardly in a direction away from the beam on which the support members 22 are located. Surface members 23, 24 extend longitudinally in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the support members 21,22 and are supported on the support members 21 or 22. As shown in Figures 2a and 2b, the surface members 23 are secured on top, in use, of the support members 21 or 22. In distinction, the surface members 24 have a rebate 25 so that the surface member is located on and between the support members 21, 22. It is intended that whether the surface member sits on or between the support members that in each case the upper portion of the surface members present a substantially continuous surface uninterrupted by the support members.

It will thus be seen that the upper surface of the support members present peaks and the peaks are interspersed by troughs forming corrugations.

The rebate 25 on the surface members is arranged to conform with the slope on a respective support member 22 and the surface member may be a force-fit by wedging between the sloping sides of adjacent support members 22. Alternatively, the surface members may be secured by screwing, adhesive, supports, and clips, as hereinafter described.

The surface member may be made one of wood, composite wood material, tile, stone, paver, metal, and plastics.

The support members may be made of one of wood, metal, plastics, and a combination of metal and plastics, or wood.

In its broadest aspect, the support members 21, 22 may be considered as forming undulations or corrugations in or on which the surface members are mounted.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 3a and 3b, in which substantially parallel and longitudinally extending part triangular cross-sectionally shaped support members 30 have sloping sides 31 that meet at an apex 32 forming a peak, and the peaks are interspaced by a trough. The support members 31 are located in beams 33 that extend orthogonally to the longitudinal direction of the support members 30. The beams 33 have dove-tail shaped notches 34 into which the support members may be snap fitted providing accurate and consistent spacing of the support members. It will be understood that other shapes of support members may be utilized and the invention is not limited to the part triangular shape shown in Figures 3a, 3b.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 4a and 4b, where, instead of the support members 30 being mounted in notches 34, they are located on an upper surface of beams 41 extending orthogonally to the longitudinal direction of the support members 30. In this embodiment, spacers 42, having ends shaped to conform with the angled slope of the sides 31 of the trough, are mounted between adjacent support members 30 and secured to an upper surface of the beam 41 providing accurate and consistent spacing of the support members. In the Figures 4a and 4b, an alternative shape to the part triangular support member 30 is member 43, which is a generally triangular shaped cross-sectioned member having cut-outs 44 in the sides thereof and an inner strengthening circular cross-sectioned member 45 that extends longitudinally within member 43.

Figures 5a -7b show support members that are manufactured as pre-formed arrays to provide corrugations with accurate and consistent spacing.

In Figures 5a, 5b, part triangular support members 51 are connected at longitudinally spaced intervals by spacers 52, thus forming peaks and troughs.

In Figures 6a and 6b, the part triangular shaped support members 61 are secured to a planar support member 62.

In Figures 7a and 7b, the support members 71 are formed as a continuous corrugated sheet having peaks 72 and troughs 73.

Referring to Figures 8a and 8b, the support member 80 is formed as a continuous corrugated sheet having consistently spaced undulations with a substantially trapezoidal transverse cross-section to provide a substantially flat planar peak 81 from which extend downwardly and outwardly sloping sides 82 to a substantially flat planar valley 83, thereby forming a trough. A surface member 84 may be secured to the peak 81 or a surface member 85 may be formed with a lower portion that has a rebate 86 having sloping sides to conform with the sloping sides 82 of the trough. The sloping conforming sides 82 and 86 may form a friction fit or the surface members 85 may be additionally secured by, for example, screwing or adhesive to the support member 80. Similarly, the surface members 84 may be secured to the support member 80 by any convenient means. The surface members 84 have an upper surface which is arranged to present a substantially continuous surface uninterrupted by the peaks 81 and, if surface members 85 are used which are located within the valley 83 then, again, the upper surface of the members 85 provide a substantially continuous surface.

A further embodiment is shown in Figures 9a and 9b, in which the support means has plural longitudinally extending, consistently spaced, corrugations forming peaks 91 and troughs having valleys 92 interconnected by sloping sides 93 of the troughs. In this embodiment, a surface member 94 has sloping longitudinally extending sides 95 which conform with the sloping sides 93 so that the surface member 94 may be held by the sloping sides 93 and the upper surface of the surface member 94 presents a substantially continuous surface.

Figure 10 shows another form of support member which is a single rectilinear support member formed by a longitudinally extending corrugation formed in a sheet member 100. The sheet member is formed having a triangular ridge or peak 101 with sloping sides 102 and planar valleys 103. An outer extent of one of the valleys 103 is provided with a substantially vertically upwardly extending wall 104 and the opposing valley 103 is provided with a substantially vertically extending U-shaped wall 105.

Figure 11a, 11b show two of the sheet members 100 connected together, whereby wall 104 is nested inside wall 105.

In Figures 11a, 11b, two sheet members 100 are connected together, but it is to be understood that three, four, or more sheet members may be similarly connected together providing accurate and consistent spacing of the support members. The corrugated sheet members may be welded, bonded, cleated or secured by any known means to form a pre-fabricated framework. Further, instead of the sheet members 100 interlocking, they may be formed in an array by molding or extruding sheets so that plural longitudinally extending corrugations are formed.

For convenience, the sheet members may be three metres long and one metre wide.

An advantage of providing corrugated sheet members instead of separate framework members is in speed of assembly and the avoidance of supporting beams 22, 33, 41.

Different manners of securing the surface member will now be described, with reference to Figures 12a -16b.

In Figures 12a and 12b, a support member is formed by a corrugated sheet 120 having a sloping side wall 121 has protrusions 122, 123. The protrusions 122, 123 are arranged to mate with corresponding grooves in the minor sides of a surface member 124, such that the surface member 124 is a snap fit into the sheet 120. The protrusion 123 forms an additional support and a stop for the surface member 124. An alternative form of securement is shown on sloping side 127 of the trough which is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending protrusions 126. The protrusions 126 are arranged to conform with conforming grooves in the sloping side of a support member 125. The protrusions 126 may have a sawtooth profile so as to bite into the conforming grooves in surface member 125.

Figures 13a and 13b show a further alternative in which clips 130 are secured as a saddle over a peak 131 of a corrugated sheet support member 132. The sides of the clip 130 conform with the sloping sides of the troughs of the support member 132. Each clip has a protrusion 134 that mates with a recess in the side wall of a surface member 135. The number of clips used is variable determined upon requirements and the clips may be rigid or pliable and made of, for example, metal or plastics. The clips 130 may be secured to the sheet 132 by gluing or screwing or may self-bind into position as adjacent surface members are fitted. The clip 130 may, instead of having a single protrusion 134, be formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending protrusions similar to the protrusions 126, and such an arrangement is shown in Figure 15.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that instead of the protrusions 122, 126, 134 being provided on sloping sides of the support member with conforming recesses in the sides of the surface member, the protrusions may be provided on the minor sides of the surface member with mating recesses in the support member.

Referring now to Figures 14a and 14b, a rigid or pliable insert 141 is inserted into a longitudinally extending recess 142 formed in a side wall of support member 140. The insert 141 may be continuous or a series of discrete members that may be located in the longitudinally extending recess 142 and the inserts conform with a mating groove formed in a side wall of a surface member 143.

Figures 16a and 16b show another aspect of this invention in which a mounting member 161 is mounted over a peak 162 of a corrugated support member 163. The mounting member has a platform 164 arranged to support the underside of a surface member 165. The mounting member has a T-piece 166 upstanding from the platform 164, with one arm of the horizontal top of the T-piece arranged to locate in a corresponding groove in a side of the surface member 165.

Referring to Figures 17a and 17b, which show another aspect of this invention, a corrugated sheet 170 supports surface members 171 are mounted and secured by means (not shown) transversely to the longitudinal direction of the corrugations of the sheet 170.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A surfacing assembly including support means having at least one pair of substantially parallel support members extending in a longitudinal direction and which support a longitudinal surface member that is arranged to be secured in said longitudinal direction to said support members.
2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support means has a plurality of longitudinally extended corrugations forming peaks and troughs and a respective surface member is arranged to have at least a portion thereof located in a respective trough.
3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein an upper surface portion of said surface members is arranged to present a substantially continuous surface uninterrupted by said peaks.
4. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein each surface member has longitudinally extending sides which are arranged to be supported by opposing side walls of the trough in which said surface member is located.
5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the longitudinally extending sides have a geometric profile which conforms with a geometric profile provided on the opposing side walls of the trough.
6. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2 -5, wherein the sides of either the surface member or trough are provided with one or more longitudinally extending portions and a recess is provided in a mating side of the surface member or trough, whereby the surface member is arranged to snap-fit into the trough.
7. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein a protruding portion of a mating recess is provided on one or more saddle members mounted over a peak of said support means.
8. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2 -7, wherein a pair of corrugations are formed in a single sheet of material.
9. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2 -7, wherein a pair of corrugations are formed in a single sheet of material and affixed to a planar support member.
10. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2 -7, wherein a pair of corrugations are each separately formed and joined at longitudinally spaced intervals by spacer means.
11. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2-10, wherein the corrugations are undulations that have sloping sides that terminate at said peak, and said trough has sides interconnected by a valley.
12. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 2-10, wherein the corrugations are undulations that have a substantially trapezoidal transverse cross-section to provide a substantially flat planar peak and said trough has sides interconnected by a valley.
13. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the surface member is longitudinally arranged to be supported by a pair of adjacent flat planar peaks of the support member.
14. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the corrugations have transversely spaced opposing longitudinal sides and connection means are provided so that plural corrugations may be connected together.
15. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the surface member is affixed to the support means by one of friction, screwing, adhesive, supports, snap fit and clips.
16. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the surface member is made of one of wood, composite wood material, tile, stone, paver, metal, and plastics.
17. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support means is made of wood, metal, plastics, and a combination of metal and plastics.
18. An assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support means is located on one of a sub-frame of beams, a continuous horizontal surface, and a vertical wall or similar surface.
19. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support means has a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations forming peaks and troughs with at least some of the peaks having at least one mounting member that is arranged to be located over said peak, said mounting member having a platform arranged to support the underside of a surface member, and said mounting member also having securing means to locate said surface member in position.
20. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein each support member has sides that slope inwardly in a direction away from a beam which is transverse to said longitudinal direction and said support member is affixed to said beam.
21. An assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the beam is provided with notches to conform with mating sides of said support member.
22. An assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the support member is mounted on top of said beam and secured in position by a spacer member arranged to locate on said beam and between two sides of opposed support members.
23. A surfacing assembly including a plurality of longitudinally extending corrugations and at least one surface member mounted transversely to the longitudinal direction of said corrugations.