The present invention relates to a method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fapades and a sealing profile for implementation thereof.

The present invention relates to fixing to a roof structure and/or to a structure of a vertical wall fapade of a building any flat ceramic tiles, flat stone tiles and others, acting as roof tiles without .visible fastening elements. The invention also relates to protection of the structures of roofs and vertical wall fapades of a building against weathering. The invention will be described with reference to the flat tiles, but is not limited to other shapes of these tiles.

The prior art includes various systems for the construction of weatherproof roofs and walls of a building.

Australian Patent No. 672286 discloses a tile roofing system in which parallel joining strips extend between a pair of adjacent battens, and each roof tile or metal roof tile is supported along opposite margins by a pair of adjacent strips. In this patent specification, locking means are provided integrally with a strip for securing the lower end portion of a respective tile against lifting. These strips are known in the art as "weather strips" and prevent moisture, dust, etc. from getting between the tiles and into the roof space. In patent No. 672286 two forms of integrated locking means are disclosed. In one embodiment, each strip at its lower end is provided with internal tabs which are bent over a lower edge of a respective roof tile or shingle. In a second embodiment, each weather strip has an upstanding hook essentially centrally positioned therein that projects upwardly to engage the lower end of a roof tile or tile in the next uppermost row from the weather strip, which prevents lifting of that roof tile or tile.

GB Patent Application No. 2160559 presents a weather strip having an upstanding hook like member which engages the lower end of a shingle or roof tile in the next uppermost row of shingles or roof tiles from the weather strip. The system presented in GB2160559 is virtually identical to the arrangement disclosed in the Australian Patent No. 672286.

European Patent No. EP2599930 discloses a „tile assembly" being a rainproof fagade covering or roof covering, comprising tiles arranged in a bond with offset joints, and comprising a fastening structure for fastening the tiles, in which each tile comprises a visible part on its lower side which remains exposed in the bond. This visible part comprises an invisible part on its upper side which is overlapped in the bond by the visible parts of two partially overlapping tiles, and comprises a nose on its rear side for fastening the tile to the fastening structure. The nose for fastening the tile divides the invisible part of the tile into, on the one hand, a mechanically loaded and waterproof part which adjoins the visible part, providing protection against water to ensure that the covering is watertight, and, on the other hand, a part which extends between the nose for fastening the tile and the upper edge of the tile and which is thinner than the part which adjoins the visible part and which is not mechanically loaded, and thus is not fastened to said fastening structure. In each tile, a portion of the invisible part which extends between the nose for fastening the tile and the upper edge of the tile, is exclusively a waterproofing portion providing protection against water to ensure that the covering is watertight, by draining off the rain water downwards and to the outside of the covering, on account of the force of gravity .

Canadian Patent No. CA 2467494 discloses a weather strip adapted to support roof tiles. The strip extends between adjacent roof battens, each weather strip having a length such that in use its lower end portion projects beyond the lower end portion of the adjacent battens, each tile being supported along the weather strip. The upper surface of each of these strips contacts adjacent marginal portions of the adjacent tiles arranged edge to edge to each other and supports them. The weather strip comprises a member retaining a roof tile, adapted to prevent lifting of the roof tile when held, wherein the retaining member consists of a wire clip secured to the weather strip and having at least one leg with hooked portion adapted to engage the lower end of a roof tile in use. The weather strip has at least two longitudinal strips of sealant means which in use are adapted to seal under the respective sides of adjacent roof tiles. The weather strip may also have a broader central longitudinal sealing strip. The side edges of adjacent tiles may rest on the broader central longitudinal sealing strip. The weather strip also includes longitudinally extending grooves formed in its upper surface to assist with the shedding of water. The longitudinally extending grooves are positioned between the two longitudinal strips and the broader central longitudinal sealing strip.

The various technical solutions of the tab and hook type disclosed in the prior art are used to immobilize the lower end of a respective roof tile in order to prevent it from lifting upwards, 'for example due to a strong wind. In practice, however, installations using the system described in e.g. the Australian Patent No. 272286 or Canadian Patent No. CA2467494 showed poor weather resistance and problems with corrosion in the case of a part bent or extending above the lower end of the roof tile.

The aim of the invention is to develop an alternative system for fixing roof elements, especially flat ceramic and/or stone tiles, ensuring complete drainage of atmospheric water.

The method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fagades according to the invention consists in installing to rafters or installing to vertical structures of external walls, flat tile elements. In the method according to the invention, support profiles to which flexible elements are attached in an arbitrary way, are permanently attached to the rafters and/or to the vertical structures placed on the external walls. The flexible elements support the flat tile element at its upper edge and also support the flat tile element at locations outside the hanger, the hanger being attached to the non-visible side of the flat tile element. Then, sealing profiles with a ridge and/or reinforced sealing profiles with a ridge are installed perpendicular to the support profiles. On opposite sides of each ridge, two sealing elements are mounted symmetrically with a structurally formed slot between them. Each ridge is positioned perpendicular to the two sealing elements. Then, a flat tile element with hangers fixed on the invisible side is hung on the support profiles and on the two sealing elements arranged symmetrically on both sides of each ridge of the sealing profile, and/or on the two sealing elements of the reinforced sealing profile .arranged symmetrically on both sides of the ridge of the reinforced profile.

Flat tile elements are installed by sliding the hangers onto the support profiles from above. The fixing height of the flat tile element is determined by mounting a hanger or hangers to the flat tile element on the support profile. With the entire weight of the flat tile element these hangers lean on the support profile which is located in the lower part of the row of flat tile elements. The flat tile element, in its upper part, leans on a flexible element fixed to the lower part of the support profile fixed above the row of flat tile elements.

The height of the ridge of the reinforced sealing profile allows snow guards, chimney sweep benches, lightning conductors and other elements that require fixing to the roof plane or are fixed to a vertical wall, to be freely attached to the ridge.

The sealing profile according to the invention has two bent cuts which retain the sealing profile on the upper support profile during installation and in use. The sealing profile and/or the reinforced sealing profile have a ridge with oblique walls, constructed perpendicular to the sealing elements, and at least two sealing elements positioned symmetrically on both sides of the ridge, with a structurally created slot between them. The sealing profile and/or the reinforced sealing profile is a vertical joint profile that seals and connects flat tile elements in one row, into one surface. Each sealing profile and/or reinforced sealing profile connects to each other at least two flat roof tile elements and/or at least two flat tile elements of the vertical wall faqade, and seals this connection.

Flat tile elements within the meaning of the present invention are flat ceramic tiles, flat stone or fiber cement tiles, composites and others that act as tiles.

The method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fagades is based on a roof frame structure, which is mounted to the rafters. The rafters in the roof plane are usually arranged vertically or in a direction close to the vertical. The rafters in the roof plane are also placed on the so-called full boarding, or on wood-like or other replacement boards. The support profiles are mounted to the rafters horizontally or in a direction close to the horizontal. The support profiles are usually installed parallel, spaced by less than the height of each tile element covering the roof. The support profiles for the wooden structure are preferably installed using at least one screw. The support profiles for the metal structure are installed using at least one bolt. Preferably, the screws or bolts are mounted in two places of the cross-section of the support profile. Such fastening enables a precise and durable connection of the rear, vertical wall of the support profile cross-section to the roof structure and increases the strength of this connection. In the support profiles, in their lower and/or middle portions, flexible elements are attached. On the support profiles mounted to the roof structure, sealing profiles and/or reinforced sealing profiles with sealing elements are fastened, on which flat tile elements are installed. Each flat tile element, in the lower part from the invisible side, has hangers and/or hooks enabling them to be attached to the support profiles. During installation, the sealing profiles and/or reinforced sealing profiles are retained on the cut out and bent portions on both sides of the ridge positioned in the upper part of the sealing profile. The bent sections of the sealing profiles and/or reinforced sealing profiles are attached to the support profile positioned above or in the upper portion of a row of the flat tile elements. After installation of the flat tile elements, the sealing profiles and/or the reinforced sealing profiles are positioned in the space between the support profiles and the tile elements that durably immobilize them and prevent disassembly of these profiles. The sealing profiles and/or reinforcement sealing profiles have oblique ridge walls which form a void between the flat tile element and the sealing profile and/or reinforced sealing profile.

The cross-section of the joint with the flat tile elements of this void expands towards the outside, which in the case of ice formation from water accumulated on the roof covering results in fragments of this ice being pushed outwards towards the exposed outer surface of the roof. The ice pushed outwards does not cause immobilization or temporarypermanent connection of adjacent flat tile elements. The ridge of the sealing profile is positioned in the middle of the vertical joint of the tile element, which means that the wind does not blow water from the tile element under the adjacent tile element, but the water pushed by the wind stops on the ridge of the sealing profile and flows down along it. Water pushed by the wind can also be carried to the outer surface of the adjacent tile element.

The installation of flat tile elements to the roof or to the vertical wall faqade consists in placing each tile element one above the other and in placing sealing profiles and/or reinforced sealing profiles one above the other along the same axis parallel to the roof surface. Preferably, the sealing profiles and/or the reinforced sealing profiles are installed with a parallel offset relative to their axes, and the flat tile elements being fastened in successive rows are offset relative to each other. Preferably, the flat tile elements being fastened are of different widths.

In cases where technical systems are planned to be installed on the roof surface or on the surface of a vertical wall fagade, reinforced sealing profiles with a raised ridge are used as sealing profiles. Technical elements, such as, inter alia, snow guards, chimney sweep benches, lightning conductors and other technical devices are installed to the reinforced sealing profile with a raised ridge.

The raised ridge of the reinforced sealing profile is a flat bar with parallel walls, so that the technical elements are installed in a vertical plane to the roof surface and/or to the faqade surface of a vertical wall and that they do not require correction of the angle of fastening. The reinforced sealing profile with a raised ridge has the upper portion of the reinforcement removed to enable its installation under a tile or under any other sealing profile. The portion of the upper reinforcement is removed along a section larger than the overlap of the tile elements. In the lower part of the reinforced sealing profile with a raised ridge, on the side opposite to the ridge, an additional element of the sealing profile with a width close to or equal to the width of the sealing profile and a shape similar to the letter "Z" is installed. The additional element of the sealing profile is permanently connected to the reinforced sealing profile using rivets, bolts or screws. The additional element of the sealing profile is positioned in such a way that the set of these both elements (the additional element of the sealing profile and the reinforced sealing profile with a raised ridge) is mounted on the support profile and is used to transfer technical loads directly from the sealing profile with a raised ridge to the support profile.

The installed flat tile elements are secured against detachment from the roof or vertical wall faqade due to wind pressure or suction, depending on the choice of the fastening system, by means of hangers placed in the lower part of the flat tile element and by a flat tile element placed above the tile element being fastened through partially covering the flat tile element positioned below by the lower part of the flat tile element positioned above. Preferably, the flat tile elements are secured with a clamp shaped similar to an inverted "U". The clamp is attached to the tile element by inserting it into a slot located in the lower part of the support profile. The inner parts of the slot of the support profile and the outer surfaces of the portion of the clamp that is inserted into the slot are shaped to form irregularities which fix the latch of the clamp after it has been inserted. From the outer visible side of the tile element, the clamp presses the tile element near the upper edge against the flexible element attached to the lower part of the support profile. Changing the thickness of the tile element induces a change in the thickness of the flexible element in such a way that the sum of these values allows for fitted insertion of the clamp and positioning the flat tile element below relative to a specified distance of the flat tile element that is located above. The dimensions of the clamp do not change - the dimensions of the clamp do not depend on the change in the thickness of the flat tile element. When fixing the flat tile elements using the clamp, the order of installation of the flat tile elements is from bottom to top. When the clamp is not used, the order of installation does not matter.

Further, flexible elements are preferably fixed in the middle part of the support profile in order to better support the flat tile element. In particular, for flat tile elements with smaller thicknesses, the use of these elements will improve their resistance and prevent cracking when walking on the roof.

On the back wall of the support profile, two slots are made to enable inserting a flat bar into two different sections of the profiles at the ends of these profiles and making an expansion joint, but with one common axis. This simplifies the installation and makes it precise.

Due to the use of the flexible elements in the support profiles, the whole structure allows for compensation for the deformation of the roof structure elements due to changeable loads or the response of wood to changing conditions consisting in its twisting and other deformation. Each flat tile element is capable of changing slightly its position relative to the fastening structure, wherein changes resulting from thermal expansion are taken into account. The solution according to the invention enables the use of flat tile elements with unaesthetically finished upper edges. When using flexible elements on fragments of the support profiles, flat tile elements can be used which do not have a perfect plane - they are slightly bent.

If the hanger is mounted in a small distance from the bottom edge, the bottom edge of flat tile elements may be made in a non-linear form. These can be waves, zigzags, arches, etc. Such form allows architects to shape this edge in the style of classic shapes or implement other innovative ideas.

The roof structure according to the invention, constructed of rows of flat tile elements and sealing profiles, causes water "discharge" from the upper tile elements onto those located below. Such construction enables to build a roof structure or a vertical wall fapade structure with flat overlapping tile elements, with the upper flat tile element and the sealing profile being always positioned above. There is no horizontal joint in this overlapping arrangement. The flat tile elements are preferably arranged in vertical columns as well as with vertical joints offset by an arbitrary section. The flat tile elements used in the method according to the invention preferably have different widths.

The structure of the roof and the vertical wall fapade leaves small gaps of several millimeters between the tile elements located above and below each other.

The advantage of the method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fapades with the use of sealing profiles and reinforced sealing profiles according to the invention is a solid, stable, two-point fastening of the tile elements to the roof structure or to the fagade structure of a vertical wall. The method is based on a minimum number of components. In the method according to the invention, flat ceramic tiles, flat stone or fiber cement tiles, composites arid others are installed as tile elements, which in use are protected against vibrations due to the use of flexible elements, which in turn eliminates damage and noise. The flat tile elements that act as roof tiles can be of different thicknesses on the same roof. The flat tile elements installed in the horizontal strip of roof or the vertical strip of roof can be of any width. The flat tile elements installed according to the invention are mounted on the support profiles and placed on the flexible elements of the sealing profiles, which enables free movement and expansion joints in the installed pitched roof or the installed fagade of a vertical wall. The method according to the invention compensates for possible changes in the geometry of the roof or vertical wall fagade resulting from the movements of the building, due to the fact that each flat tile element rests on a flexible element. The method according to the invention also allows for the disassembly of any flat tile element without having to disassemble the adjacent elements, as well as for the reassembly of any tile element without damage. The method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fagades with the use of sealing profiles and reinforced sealing profiles allows for installation of a large number of structural elements, including but not limited to sealing profiles, clamps, flexible elements, without the use of tools. An advantage is also the use, in the method according to the invention, of reinforced sealing profiles fastened at the point where the individual tile elements are connected to each other. The ridges of the reinforced sealing profiles allow for the installation of various technical systems in any place of the roof, as well as in any place of the vertical wall fagade, without the need to redesign the roof or redesign the vertical wall fagade. The invention also prevents ice from depositing in vertical joints, and the installation of the edge profiles allows rainwater to be collected into the gutter.

An exemplary embodiment of the method for construction of pitched roofs and vertical wall fapades with the use of the sealing profiles and reinforced sealing profiles according to the invention, wherein the method is not limited by this example, is shown schematically in the drawing, in which Fig.

I shows schematically the method for construction of pitched roofs, Fig. 2 shows the sealing profile, Fig.3 shows the reinforced sealing profile, Fig.4 shows schematically the support, edge, "Z" profiles, the clamp and the flexible elements, Fig.5 shows a flat tile element with attached hangers, Fig.6 shows the installation diagram for the sealing profile, Fig.7 shows the installation diagram for the reinforced sealing profile, Fig.8 shows the method of installation of support profiles, sealing profiles, reinforced sealing profiles and edge profiles to the rafters, Fig.9 shows the installation diagram for the clamp, Fig.10 shows a regular arrangement of flat tile elements, while Fig. 11 shows an alternating arrangement of flat tile elements with non-axially positioned vertical joints.

An exemplary installation of the roof disclosed in Fig. 1, Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 consists in installing support profiles 1 to the rafters 12, to which support profiles 1 flexible elements 7 supporting the flat tile elements 11 at the upper edge and flexible elements 8 supporting the flat tile elements

II outside the hangers 10 are fastened. The sealing profiles 2 and/or the reinforced sealing profiles 3 with a cut-out 15, equipped with "Z" profiles 5, are installed perpendicular to the support profiles 1. On the support profiles 1 and on the two sealing elements 13 positioned symmetrically on both sides of the ridge 17 of the sealing profiles 2 with cut-outs 14, a flat tile element 11 with hangers 10 fastened from the invisible side and clamps 4 fixed to the upper edge is hung, and/or on the two sealing elements 13 positioned symmetrically on both sides of the ridge 18 of the reinforced sealing profiles 3, a flat tile element 11 with hangers 10 fastened from the invisible side and clamps 4 fixed to the upper edge is hung.

The sealing profile 2 disclosed in Fig. 2 has cut-outs 14 positioned symmetrically on the sides of the ridge 17 of the sealing profile 2. Further, the sealing profile 2 has sealing elements 13 with a structurally formed slot 16 and a ridge 17. The reinforced sealing profile 3 disclosed in Fig. 3 has a cut-out 15 on one side, and a "Z" profile 5 attached to the bottom, at the bottom part. Symmetrically on both sides of the ridge 18, the reinforced sealing profile 3 has sealing elements 13 with a slot 16 structurally formed between them and a ridge 18.