More particularly but not exclusively the invention relates to such an assembly in which the main beam is a main rafter of a roof construction which main rafter may extend from a ridge to a corner of the roof construction, and the auxiliary beam is a so called"jack rafter", which extends from one side of the rafter to eaves of the roof construction. The main and jack rafters are each adapted in use to support roofing panels.

Such a roof construction is well known for e. g. Georgian style conservatories.

There is an economic requirement to use common components for different sizes and styles of roof constructions. However, for different roof constructions of the kind for which this invention primarily has been developed, the jack rafter, or commonly jack rafters, one either side of a main rafter at the roof corner, may extend at different angles to the main rafter, and the relative inclinations of the first and second planes in which the main rafter and jack rafter extends may vary.

It has been proposed for example in GB2323107 to provide a connector device having a first part connected to the main rafter and a second part connected to the jack rafter, the first and second parts being connectable and relatively pivotal to accommodate different geometries. Such a connector device may permit a wide variety of different angles between the main and jack rafters to be accommodated, but only permit of a very small variation in first and second plane inclinations.

According to a first aspect of the invention we provide an assembly of a main beam and an auxiliary beam in which the main beam extends longitudinally in a first plane and the auxiliary beam extends longitudinally in a second plane, the auxiliary beam being connected to the main beam such as to extend at an angle to the main beam by a connector device, the connector device including a deformable member which extends between the main and auxiliary beams, the deformable member being deformable to accommodate different angles between the main and auxiliary beams, and any inclination between the first and second planes.

Thus the connector device of the assembly of the invention permits of greater variations in geometry to be accommodated with common components.

In one arrangement the deformable member is elastically deformable.

One example, the deformable member includes a coil spring which may be resiliently bent relative to a nominal spring axis in an infinite number of directions to accommodate different assembly geometries. The elastically deformable member may be attached to at least one of the main and auxiliary beams by an attachment member such as a fastener, and may be resiliently extendible to urge the main and auxiliary beams together.

In another arrangement, the deformable member may be plastically deformable.

One example of such a deformable member is a rod of an appropriate plastically deformable material, such as a suitable metal, which may be plastically bent relative to a nominal rod axis in an infinite number of directions to accommodate different assembly geometries. The plastically deformable member may be attached to at least one of the main and auxiliary beams by an attachment member such as a fastener or cleat.

The assembly may include a first auxiliary beam which is connected to the main beam at a first side of the main beam and a second auxiliary beam which is connected to the main beam at a second side of the main beam. The main beam may include a opening e. g. in an upstanding web thereof, and the deformable member be received in the opening and extend continuously between the first auxiliary beam and the main beam and the main beam and the second auxiliary beam, or a pair of deformable members may be provided one for each auxiliary beam, each of the deformable members being attached to the main beam and a respective auxiliary beam e. g. by fasteners and/or cleats.

The connector device may include an arm member mounted on the auxiliary beam, including a hooked part which overlies an outstanding part of the main beam and assists in retaining the auxiliary beam longitudinally relative to the main beam. Thus an even more secure connection is provided between the main and auxiliary beams than that achieved by a deformable member alone.

In one example, the arm member may be provided on a mounting member connected to the auxiliary beam, and which provides a mounting for the deformable member.

Preferably an end of the auxiliary beam abuts a side of the main beam, in which case the end of the auxiliary beam may be shaped to conform to the shape of the main beam. For example, the main beam may include an upstanding web, and an outwardly extending flange and the auxiliary beam may also include an upstanding web and an outwardly extending flange, the outwardly extending flange of the auxiliary beam being cut at an angle to the longitudinal extent of the auxiliary beam so as to abut the outwardly extending flange of the main beam with the auxiliary beam extending at an angle to the main beam, and the upstanding web of the auxiliary beam may be shaped so that an end edge of the upstanding web overhangs the outwardly extending flange of the main beam.

The invention may particularly be applied where the assembly is part of a roof construction in which case the main beam may be a main rafter which extends from a ridge of the construction to a corner of the construction, and the auxiliary rafter is a jack rafter which extends from main rafter to eaves of the roof construction. The outwardly extending flanges of the main and auxiliary rafters may support roofing panels.

According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a method of assembling a main beam and an auxiliary beam in which the main beam extends longitudinally in a first plane and the auxiliary beam extends longitudinally in a second plane, the method including connecting the auxiliary beam to the main beam such as to extend at an angle to the main beam by a connector device which includes a deformable member which extends between the main and auxiliary beam, the method including deforming the deformable member to accommodate a desired angle between the main and auxiliary beams, and any inclination between the first and second planes.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which : - FIGURE 1 is an illustrative view from slightly to the side and front of a first embodiment of an assembly in accordance with invention ; FIGURE 2 is a perspective view from the side of an alternative embodiment of the invention ; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view slightly to the side and the front of another embodiment of an assembly in accordance with the invention.

Referring to figure 1 of the drawings there is shown an assembly 10 of a main beam 12 and a pair of auxiliary beams 13,14, which in this example are respectively a main rafter 12 and a pair of jack rafters 13,14 of a conservatory roof construction.

The main rafter 12 includes an upstanding web 15 and a pair of mutually oppositely outwardly extending flanges 16,17 which in use, are adapted to support roofing panels (not shown) of the construction. The main rafter 12 would typically extend downwardly from a central ridge of the roof construction to a corner of the roof construction.

The jack rafters 13,14 each include respective upstanding webs 13a, 14a, and a pair of mutually oppositely outwardly extending flanges 13b, 13c and 14b, 14c.

In the assembly 10, the main rafter 12 extends longitudinally in a first plane, and the jack rafter 13,14 extend longitudinally in respective second and third planes, and usually the second and third planes are mutually inclined and inclined relative to the first plane but may be the same plane. Moreover, the jack rafters 13,14 are each connected to the main rafter 12 at an angle a, with ends of the jack rafters 13,14 abutting respective opposite sides of the main rafter 12 and being connected such that the flange 16 of the main rafter 12 is generally contiguous with the flanges 13 a, 13b of the jack rafter 13, and so that the flange 17 of the main rafter 12 is generally contiguous with the flanges 14a, 14b of the jack rafter 14, so that the flanges may support planar roofing e. g. glazing panels.

The ends of the jack rafters 13,14 are shaped generally to conform to the shape of the main rafter 12. For example, for auxiliary rafter 13, the flanges 13b, 13c are cut at the angle a to the longitudinal extent of the auxiliary rafter 13 so that the cut edge 13d may abut the adjacent flange 16 of the main rafter 12 with the auxiliary rafter 13 extending at angle a to the main rafter 12. Also, the edge of the upstanding web 13a is shaped to overhang the flange 16 of the main rafter 12 so that the shaped web edge lies more closely adjacent to the upstanding web 15 of the main rafter 12.

The jack rafter 14 is similarly shaped to jack rafter 13, but oppositely so as to abut to the main rafter 12 and extend relative to the main rafter at angle a towards the eaves of the roof construction.

The rafters 13,14 are connected to the main rafter 12 by a connecting means 20 which includes a deformable member 21. In this example, the deformable member 21 is a 10 mm diameter coil spring. The spring 21 is connected via a fastener 22 at one end, to the jack rafter 13, and the spring 21 extends to and passes through an opening 24 in the upstanding web 15 of the main rafter 12, and then extends from the opposite side of the web 15 to the jack rafter 14 to which the opposite end of the spring 21 is connected via another fastener 26.

By nature, the coil spring 21 is elastically deformable in any direction and to any extent relative to a nominal spring axis and at any position along the spring and thus this component may be used for a wide variety of assemblies with differing geometries. The spring 21 may readily be deformed to accommodate different jack rafter 13,14 to main beam 12 angles a, and any inclinations between the planes in which the main rafter 12 and jack rafters 13, 14 lie, and different opening 24 positions in the web 15 of the main beam 12.

The spring 21 is resiliently extendible and so will urge the respective jack rafters 13,14 towards the main rafter 12 and towards each other and provide the assembly 10 with sufficient rigidity at least during construction of the roof, to hold the jack rafters 13,14 in position while other roof components, such as roofing panels and rafter cappings are assembled.

By shaping the leading edges of the upstanding webs 13a, 14a of the jack rafters 13,14 to overhang the outwardly extending flanges 16,17 of the main beam 12, the jack rafters 13,14 will provide bearing support in use for the roofing panels.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, as described, the connecting means 20 has been described as including a single coil spring or other elastically deformable member 21 which passes through an opening 24 in the upstanding web 15 of the main rafter 12, thus to extend form the main rafter 12 to each of the jack rafters 13, 14. In another embodiment, for example as indicated in figure 2, an elastically deformable member 21'may be provided for each jack rafter 13,14, with a respective deformable member 21'being attached to the main rafter 12, e. g. to the upstanding web 15 by a fastener or as in the example of figure, by a cleat 26. Using cleats 26 either side of the upstanding web 15 enables the springs 21' to be attached to the main rafter 12 at the same position at either side of the web 15.

If desired, instead of attaching the spring 21 or springs 21'to the jack rafters 13,14 by fasteners 22,26 as described in figure 1, a mounting for the spring 21 may be provided by a mounting member such as a cleat 27 or indeed any other fastening technique may be used.

In another embodiment (not shown) instead of using an elastically deformable member 21,21'to extend between and connect the jack rafter or rafters 13,14 to the main rafter 12, a plastically deformable member may be used, such as for example a rod of a suitably plastic material such as an appropriate soft metal material such as copper. The rod must be readily deformable relative to a nominal rod axis and at any position along the rod axis to accommodate a wide varieties of main/jack rafter 12,13, 14 assembly geometries. Such a plastically deformable member may be attached to both of the jack rafters 13,14 e. g. by cleats or fasteners, or may pass through an opening 24 in the main rafter 12 as described with reference to figure 1, or to one jack rafter 13 or 14 only, and to the main rafter 12.

Although usually in a roof construction a pair of jack rafters 13, 14 would be provided one either side of a main rafter 12, the invention does not preclude an assembly of one jack rafter 13, 14 and main rafter 12 only.

Further it will be appreciated that although the invention has been developed particularly for an assembly in a roof construction as described, the invention may be applied to other assemblies of a main beam and an auxiliary beam in which the main beam extends longitudinally in a first plane and the auxiliary beam extends longitudinally in a second plane, the auxiliary beam being connected to the main beam such as to extend at an angle to the main beam by a connector device.

Whereas usually the planes in which the auxiliary beam or beams 13,14 lie will be inclined to the plane in which the main beam 12 lies, this may not always be the case. However the deformable member 21,21'of the connector device of the invention may accommodate any relative plane inclinations, including no relative plane inclinations.

Referring to figure 3, another embodiment of the invention is shown.

Similar parts to the embodiments described above with reference to figures 1 and 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, the connector device 20 includes an arm member 27a extending from a mounting member 29. The connector device 20 for one auxiliary beam 14 only is shown in full lines, although practically a similar connector device but oppositely handed would be used to connect any second auxiliary beam, e. g. as indicated at 13, to the main beam 12 as indicated in dotted lines.

The arm member 27a is a plate-like mounting, and is made of a rigid material such as metal and is attached to the auxiliary beam 14 by a pair of fasteners indicated at 27b. The arm member 27a includes a hooked part 28 which overlies the outwardly extending flange 17 of the main beam 12. The mounting member 29 including the arm member 27a and hooked part 28 is preferably provided as a pressing and the pressing also includes a mounting 29a for one end of the spring 21 a.

In this example, the outstanding flanges 16,17 of the main beam 12 include returns 16a, 17a, and the hooked part 28 of the arm member 27a engages behind the return 17a of the auxiliary beam 14 to assist in retaining the auxiliary beam 14 longitudinally relative to the main beam 12.

Thus during construction, the auxiliary beam 14 may be positioned relative to the main beam 12, with the hooked part 28 of the arm member 27a in engagement with the return 17a and the auxiliary beam 14 will thus be held sufficiently while the deformable member 21a, which may already be attached relative to the main beam 12, is attached to the mounting 29a of the mounting member 29 which is attached to the auxiliary beam 14.

In the embodiment of figure 3, the deformable member 21a includes a coil spring part, which may be bolted via a bolt fixing 32 to the main beam 12, although where a pair of auxiliary beams 13,14 are provided, the deformable member 21a may pass through an opening in the in web 15 of the main beam, as described with reference to figure 1.

In the figure 3 embodiment, although preferably the auxiliary beam 14 end will be shaped as indicated at 26a to overlie the flange 17 of the main beam to provide bearing support, sufficient bearing support may be achieved by the hooked shaped part 28 of the arm member 27a so that shaping of the end of the auxiliary beam 14 may not be necessary.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.