ROOFING COMPONENTS HAVING VACUUM-FORMED THERMOSET MATERIALS AND RELATED MANUFACTURING METHODS
Methods of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material includes providing a mold shaped as a roofing component; providing a thermoset material; heating the thermoset material; disposing the thermoset material about the mold; and vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold, the thermoset material being cured during heating.
Waterproof membranes are used with roofing components to prevent leaks through and around the roofing components. The membranes are connected to the components by fasteners such as screws, nails or the like, either directly through the membrane or more commonly through a stiffener, such as a strip of rigid material. In order to obtain a waterproof seal between the membrane and a component, a number of closely spaced fasteners typically are utilized.
In addition to having to utilize numerous fasteners another drawback when installing the membrane onto the component is that the membrane must be held temporarily to the component while the membrane is adjusted, wrinkles and pockets smoothed out, and cuts made for roof openings. After this laborious process, the membrane is fixed to the flashing.
A membrane pre-formed to complement a roofing component would be welcome in the roofing industry to speed construction and installation and reduce costs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREThe present disclosure is directed in general to vacuuming and heat curing a thermoset material in a shape of a roofing component. The components and materials of the embodiments and their equivalents discussed herein are simple and economical to manufacture and use. Other advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the attached drawings or can be learned through practice of the following embodiments and their equivalents.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material includes providing a mold shaped as a roofing component; heating the mold; disposing a thermoset material about the mold; and vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold, the thermoset material being cured by the heated mold. In this aspect, the mold may be male-shaped or female-shaped, and the roofing component may be a skylight, a tube or a flashing component.
Also in this aspect, the mold may be heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. More specifically, the thermoset material may be heated to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit to render the thermoset material pliable before vacuuming the thermoset material, and the mold may be heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit after the thermoset material has assumed the shape of the mold to cure the thermoset material in the shape of the mold. Still further, the mold may be flash heated from about 100 degrees Fahrenheit substantially immediately or at least rapidly to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Also in this aspect, the thermoset material may be heated by the mold until a shape memory is imparted to the thermoset material. The thermoset material may be heated by the mold for about three minutes.
The thermoset material in this aspect of the disclosure may be a terpolymer elastomer. The terpolymer elastomer may be ethylene propylene diene monomer. The thermoset material, when cured, may have a thickness of about 0.1 inches to about 0.5 inches. A second thermoset material may be heat cured onto the cured thermoset material.
Also in this aspect of the disclosure, the mold may include a first surface configured for contact shaping the thermoset material and an opposing second surface, and further include heating at least the first surface prior to vacuuming the thermoset material thereon. The second surface may also be heated. Still further, the mold may be cooled after heating to prepare the mold more quickly for a subsequent process.
Further in this aspect, a complementary shaped roofing structure may be mated with the thermoset material while heating the mold. A complementary shaped roofing structure and the thermoset material may also be secured together. For example, the roofing structure and the thermoset material may be secured together by heat, compression, an adhesive, a tape, a mechanical device, and by combinations of these and other devices and securement methods.
In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material includes providing a mold shaped as a roofing component; heating the mold to a first temperature; disposing a thermoset material about the mold; vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold; heating the mold to a second temperature greater than the first temperature, the thermoset material being cured by the heated mold while under vacuum. This aspect may incorporate many of the same or similar steps and components as summarized for the foregoing aspect.
In a further aspect of the disclosure, a roofing component system including a component made of thermoset material formed by a vacuum and heating process includes a thermoset material shaped and cured by a heated mold, the thermoset material being shaped as a roofing component by heating the mold for at least about three minutes at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit; a roofing structure attached to the roofing component-shaped thermoset material; and means for attaching the roofing structure to the roofing component-shaped thermoset material. The means for attaching may be a ring, an adhesive, a tape, a screw, a rivet, a bolt and combinations of these and other attachment devices. This aspect may also incorporate many of the same or similar steps and components as summarized for the foregoing aspects,
In yet a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material includes providing a mold shaped as a roofing component; providing a thermoset material; heating the thermoset material; disposing the thermoset material about the mold; and vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold, the thermoset material being cured during heating, for example, for about three minutes In this aspect, the heating may be performed by heating the mold and/or placing the mold and the thermoset material in a heating chamber and/or disposing a heating element proximate the mold and the thermoset material,
The above and other aspects and advantages of the present disclosure are apparent from the detailed description below in combination with the drawings, in which:
Detailed reference will now be made to the drawings in which examples embodying the present disclosure are shown. The detailed description uses numerical and letter designations to refer to features of the drawings. Like or similar designations of the drawings and description have been used to refer to like or similar parts of various embodiments according the disclosure.
The drawings and detailed description provide a full and detailed written description of the disclosure and of the manner and process of making and using various embodiments, so as to enable one skilled in the pertinent art to make and use them, as well as the best mode of carrying out the disclosure. However, the examples set forth in the drawings and detailed description are provided by way of explanation of the disclosure and are not meant as limitations of the disclosure. The present disclosure thus includes any modifications and variations of the following examples as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Turning now to the figures,
With particular reference to
As further shown in
Turning now to
Once the thermoset material 26 is vacuum formed about the mold 22 such that the thermoset material 26 assumes the shape of the mold 22 as introduced above, the heat controller 40 heats the coils 38 to at least about 300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit to heat the thermoset material 26 for at least about three minutes As shown in
Turning to
With reference to
Turning now to another embodiment according to the disclosure as shown in
As shown in
A further embodiment similar to aspects shown in
While preferred embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will recognize that other changes and modifications may be made to the foregoing examples without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For instance, dimensions such as material thicknesses can be changed for various components. Likewise, thermoset materials can be used to manufacture the products described herein. It is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents,
Claims
1. A method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material, the method comprising:
- providing a mold shaped as a roofing component;
- heating the mold;
- disposing a thermoset material about the mold; and
- vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold, the thermoset material being cured by the heated mold.
2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the mold is a male-shaped mold or a female-shaped mold.
3. The method as in claim 1, wherein the roofing component is a skylight, a tube or a flashing component.
4. The method as in claim 1, wherein the mold is heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. The method as in claim 4, further comprising heating the thermoset material to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit to render the thermoset material pliable before vacuuming the thermoset material, the mold being heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit after the thermoset material has assumed the shape of the mold to cure the thermoset material in the shape of the mold.
6. The method as in claim 5, further comprising flash heating the mold from about about 100 degrees Fahrenheit to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. The method as in claim 1, wherein the thermoset material is heated by the mold until a shape memory is imparted to the thermoset material
8. The method as in claim 1, wherein the thermoset material is heated by the mold for about three minutes.
9. The method as in claim 1, wherein the thermoset material is a terpolymer elastomer.
10. The method as in claim 9, wherein the terpolymer elastomer is ethylene propylene diene monomer.
11. The method as in claim 1, wherein the thermoset material, when cured, has a thickness of about 0.1 inches to about 0.5 inches.
12. The method as in claim 1, wherein the mold has a first surface configured for contact shaping the thermoset material and an opposing second surface, and further comprising heating at least the first surface prior to vacuuming the thermoset material thereon.
13. The method as in claim 12, further comprising heating the second surface.
14. The method as in claim 1, further comprising cooling the mold.
15. The method as in claim 1, further comprising mating a complementary shaped roofing structure with the thermoset material while heating the mold.
16. The method as in claim 1, further comprising securing a complementary shaped roofing structure and the thermoset material together.
17. The method as in claim 16, wherein the roofing structure and the thermoset material are secured together by heat, compression, an adhesive, a tape, a mechanical device and combinations thereof.
18. The method as in claim 1, further comprising heat curing a second thermoset material onto the cured thermoset material.
19. A method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material, the method comprising:
- providing a mold shaped as a roofing component;
- heating the mold to a first temperature;
- disposing a thermoset material about the mold;
- vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold;
- heating the mold to a second temperature greater than the first temperature, the thermoset material being cured by the heated mold while under vacuum.
20. The method as in claim 19, wherein the first temperature is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit to render the thermoset material pliable before vacuuming the thermoset material, and the second temperature is about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit to cure the thermoset material in the shape of the mold.
21. The method as in claim 19, wherein the mold is heated at the second temperature for about three minutes.
22. The method as in claim 19, further comprising inserting a complementary shaped roofing structure in the mold and mating the thermoset material therewith while heating the mold at the second temperature.
23. A roofing component system including a component made of thermoset material formed by a vacuum and heating process, the roofing component system comprising:
- a thermoset material shaped and cured by a heated mold, the thermoset material being shaped as a roofing component by heating the mold for at least about three minutes at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit;
- a roofing structure attached to the roofing component-shaped thermoset material; and
- means for attaching the roofing structure to the roofing component-shaped thermoset material.
24. The component system as in claim 23, wherein the thermoset material is a terpolymer elastomer.
25. The roofing component system as in claim 23, wherein the roofing structure is a tubular skylight or a flashing component.
26. The roofing component system as in claim 23, wherein the means for attaching is selected from the group consisting of a ring, an adhesive, a tape, a screw, a rivet, a bolt and combinations thereof.
27. A method of vacuum-forming a roofing component of thermoset material, the method comprising:
- providing a mold shaped as a roofing component;
- providing a thermoset material;
- heating the thermoset material;
- disposing the thermoset material about the mold; and
- vacuuming the thermoset material to assume a shape of the mold, the thermoset material being cured during heating.
28. The method as in claim 27, wherein the thermoset material is heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
29. The method as in claim 27, wherein the thermoset material is heated for about three minutes.
30. The method as in claim 27, wherein the heating is performed by selecting from the group consisting of heating the mold, placing the mold and the thermoset material in a heating chamber, disposing a heating element proximate the mold and the thermoset material, and combinations thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 22, 2007
Publication Date: Feb 26, 2009
Inventor: Jeffrey J. Ronan (Greenwood, SC)
Application Number: 11/843,261
International Classification: E04F 13/072 (20060101);