BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vehicle parking structure, a member for a vehicle parking structure, and a method of fastening a corrugated support of a vehicle parking structure for supporting a parking surface to a support structure.

The vehicle parking structure described herein is a modification to the car park structure described in the applicant's (Condek Holdings Limited) UK patent No. GB2439216. The member for a vehicle parking structure and method of fastening a corrugated support of a vehicle parking structure for supporting a parking surface to a support structure described herein are particularly intended for, although not limited to, use in the type of car park described in GB2439216.

The car park 10 of GB2439216 is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The car park comprises a parking surface 12 for cars to park on that is supported above ground 13 by a steel framework 14 or support structure. The parking surface is formed of sheets 16 of glass fibre reinforced plastics. The sheets are fastened to a corrugated steel support or profile sheeting 18. The corrugated support is fastened to beams 20 of the steel framework. The fastening of the corrugated support 18 to the beams 20 should be water tight, in particular, to prevent rainwater falling through the corrugated support into the space below, typically forming a ground level car parking area. This is because water dripping down from the support to the space below is unpleasant to people below. The arrangement should also help absorb vibrations caused by vehicles being driven over the parking surface.

GB2439216 describes two fastening arrangements to fasten the corrugated support 18 to the beams 20. These are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4; and Figure 5 respectively.

In the arrangement of Figures 3 and 4, the corrugated supports 18 are fastened to the beams 20 with a fastening arrangement 21 as follows. Troughs 22 of the corrugated support 18, which have a channel 24 extending along them, are fastened to a beam 20 of the steel framework 14, by a threaded fastener 26 fastened through a hole through the channels of the corrugated support and into the beam. A sealing surface 28 in the form of waterproof tape, and in particular mastic tape, is applied to the upper surface 30 of the beam 20.

Lugs 32 in the form of semi-circular cross-section cylinders, each complementary in shape to the channels 24, are located on the tape 30. The lugs are made from waterproof mastic. The corrugated support 18 is positioned on the tape and the lugs are aligned with the channels so that they lie in the channels. Resilient and waterproof plastics sheet in the form of neoprene sheet 34 having a

complementary shape to the channels is located on the other side of channels. A saddle portion 36 is located over each neoprene sheet. Each saddle portion is cuboid in shape and comprises a semi-circular cross-section channel 38 along its surface. The semi-circular channel 38 is complementary to the neoprene sheet. A planar resilient and waterproof plastics sheet in the form of neoprene sheet 40 is located on the other, flat side 42 of the saddle portion. A washer 44, made from stainless steel, is located on the planar neoprene sheet. A through hole (not shown) passes through the centre of all the components of this fastening arrangement and into the beams 20 to which the profile sheeting is fastened. A threaded fastener or screw 26 in the form of a Tek screw is screwed through the fastening, arrangement 21 such that the head 46 of the screw is on the profile sheeting side and the shank 48 projects into the beam 20.

This arrangement does not lead to a fully water tight seal around the screws and water can drip down from the corrugated support. Furthermore, this arrangement is complicated to install and errors can easily be made during installation by builders. As a result, an even worse water tight seal is achieved and yet more rain water can drip down from the corrugated profile sheeting. Furthermore, even if properly installed, this arrangement is not particularly effective in absorbing vibrations from vehicles driving over the parking surface. Another arrangement described in GB2439216 for fastening the profile sheeting to the beams and the sheets of the car park surface to the profile sheeting is illustrated in Figure 5.

In the arrangement of Figure 5, the profile sheeting 18 is fastened to the beam by 20 a screw 70 passing through a through hole in the trough 22 of the profile sheeting. A plastics washer 72 is located between the head 74 of the screw and the upper surface 76 of the trough of the corrugated support or profile sheeting.

Again, this arrangement does not properly seal around the screws leading to water dripping down from the corrugated sheeting. Also, in this arrangement, errors can easily be made during installation by builders, particularly by omitting the plastics washer 72 and, as a result, an even worse water tight seal is achieved resulting in yet more rainwater dripping down from the corrugated support. Furthermore, even if properly installed, this arrangement is not particularly effective in absorbing vibrations from vehicles driving over the parking surface.

The inventor of the arrangement described herein is the first to appreciate that by locating a member between and fastened to a peak of the corrugated support and a support structure, such as a beam, that the corrugated support can be fixed to the beam without having holes or penetrations in the troughs of the corrugated support. In this way, rainwater does not leak through the corrugated support to the space below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is defined in the independent claims below to which reference should now be made. Advantageous features are set forth in the dependent claims.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below and takes the form of a vehicle parking structure comprising a corrugated support for supporting a parking surface, such as sheets of glass fibre reinforced plastics. The corrugated support comprises peaks and troughs. A member is located between and is fastened to at least one peak of the corrugated support and a support structure, such as a beam.

Preferred embodiments have a member or support block comprising fibre reinforced plastics, and in particular glass reinforced polypropylene or glass filled polypropylene. This is a particularly advantageous feature.

The arrangement using a support block of glass filled polypropylene has a low density or is less dense, which reduces the dead load of the system overall. The elasticity of this member is good, which means that it is good at absorbing vibrations from vehicles driving over the parking surface. This arrangement is less likely than other materials, such as glass filled nylon, to fail during assembly or in use. The water absorption of this material is low (less water is absorbed than with other materials such as glass filled nylon) and this improves the longevity of the member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in more detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 (prior art) is an isometric view of a known vehicle parking structure;

Figure 2 (prior art) is a view from the side of a known vehicle parking structure; Figure 3 (prior art) is a view from the side of part of the known vehicle parking structure of Figure 2;

Figure 4 (prior art) is an exploded view from the side of part of the vehicle parking structure of Figure 3;

Figure 5 (prior art) is a view from the side of part of another known vehicle parking structure;

Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of a vehicle parking structure embodying an aspect of the present invention;

Figure 7 is an isometric view of part of a member of part of the vehicle parking structure of Figure 6 attached to a beam; Figure 8A is a view from above of part of the member of Figure 6; Figure 8B is a view from the side of the member of Figure 8A;

Figure 8C is a cross-sectional view of the member of Figure 8B viewed from line

1- 1 ; and Figure 8D is a cross-sectional view of the member of Figure 8B viewed from line

2- 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A vehicle parking structure 100 and a member 106 for a vehicle parking structure will now be described with reference to Figures 6, 7 and 8A to 8D. Some features are referred to in the prior art described above and these features are given the same reference numerals.

Referring first with particular reference to Figure 6, vehicle parking structure 100 comprises a corrugated support 18 with product code RL60 supporting a parking surface 12 of sheets of glass fibre reinforced plastics 16. The corrugated support comprises peaks or ribs 102 and troughs 104. The member 106 is located between and fastened to at least one peak of the corrugated support and a support structure, such as, in this example, a beam or channel 108.

The member or support block 106 comprises fibre reinforced plastics. The plastics are, in particular, polypropylene and the fibre is, in particular, glass. In other words, the member 106 is constructed from, and, in particular, completely constructed from, glass filled polypropylene. The support block is made by injection moulding. This is a particularly advantageous arrangement as described above.

The member 106 has a base 110 from which at least one projection 112, in this case a plurality of projections, project. Four projections are shown, but there may be other numbers, for example 11. Between 1 and 12 projections is typical. The projections are spaced apart along the base. Each projection is complementary in shape to each of the peaks 102 of the corrugated support 18 to enable it to be located beneath the peaks of the corrugated support. Each projection comprises sides 114 sloping towards one another from a base end 116 located at the base to another top end 118 (see Figure 8B). That is to say, they are trapezoidal blocks with two parallel sides (the base end and top end). The projections are spaced from one edge of the base, typically by 10mm. The projections are spaced from the edge of the base on which the hooks 124 of the clip (described below) are located.

The base 110 is adapted to clip to the beam 108 by a clip (see in particular Figures 7, 8C and 8D). The clip is formed by a flanged edge 120 of one edge 122 of the base and by hooks 124 spaced apart along a longitudinal axis 126 of the base. Each hook has a portion 128 extending inwardly for engaging with the beam (typically an overhanging portion of the beam). In use, the flanged edge rests against an edge 130 of the beam and the hooks engage, through the resilience of the material from which the member is made, with another, opposing, edge 132 of the beam.

As shown in Figure 6, the base end 116 of each block or projection 112 is also bolted to the beam 108, with M8 dome head bright zinc plate screws 134, which pass through a through hole 136 in the base end of each block.

The top end 118 of each block 112 is fastened with adhesive, such as glue, to the corrugated support 18. The top end of each block is also bolted to each peak or rib of the corrugated support structure with, in this example, flat hexagonal head bolts 138.

The member 106 is fastened to the beam 108 before the corrugated support or sheet 18 is fastened to the member.

The top end 118 of each block 112 and the base 110 have channels 140 extending along their upper surface (see Figures 7 and 8A).

At least one, and in this example, a pair of channels 140 extend over the surface of the projections 112 in the direction of the longitudinal axis 126 of the base 110. The channels have a semi-circular cross-section. The pair of channels extend

continuously along the upper surface of the member 106 from one end to the other, over the surface of the projections or blocks and over the upper surface of the base. These channels form glue or adhesive bead grooves. The adhesive for adhering the corrugated support 18 to the member 106, in the form of glue or adhesive beads, is located in these grooves or channels. The adhesive is applied along the full length of channel 140, along the whole length of the member 106.

At least one channel, and in this example, a single channel 142 extends over the surface of the top end 118 of each of the projections or blocks 112 in the direction of a transverse axis 144 of the base 110. The fastener or bolt (flat hexagonal head bolts 138) for fastening the top end 118 of each block 112 of the member 106 to the corrugated support 18 is located through a through hole 147 of each of these channels. The through hole 147 (see Figure 6) is drilled through the corrugated sheet at a factory.

The troughs 104 of the corrugated support 18 have no through holes or penetrations. Because of this, rainwater running into the troughs does not leak through the corrugated support to the space below and the troughs remain clean. In other words, by using fixing points at the top of the RL60 panels, water leaks through the lower troughs are eradicated.

This arrangement also transfers loads from the RL60 panels of corrugated support 18 to supporting channels below. This means that the corrugated support 18 is utilised as a structural support.

Furthermore, this arrangement acts as noise suppression system as there is a plastics spacer between the RL60 or corrugated member 18 and supporting channels. This means that there is no metal on metal contact. Metal on metal contact is noisy in this type of car park system when a car drives through the car park.

A noise suppression 148 flashing is located over each peak or rib 102 of the corrugated support 18 and over the head of each of the bolts 138. Each noise suppression flashing is formed of a resilient portion, in this example of rubber, typically of 5mm thickness, located over each peak of the corrugated support and over the head of each of the bolts. The resilient portions are each complementary in shape to each upper portion of each peak of the corrugated support and the head of the bolt or fastener projecting through. That is to say, they comprise a sheet 150 with flanged edges 152 that project, slightly, outwardly. The sheet has a recess 154 in it for housing the head of the bolt. The projections or blocks 112 each have at least one through hole 156, in this example, a pair of through holes, through them. Electrical cables or closed-circuit television (CCTV) cables (not shown) for the car park are passed through these through holes. The through holes of each block are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction 126 of the base 110. The through holes extend through in the direction of a transverse axis 1 4 of the base.

The corrugated support 18 with product code RL60 is typically rolled in a single sheet 15.4m long.

The invention has been described with reference to example implementations, purely for the sake of illustration. The invention is not to be limited by these, as many modifications and variations would occur to the skilled person. The invention is to be understood from the claims that follow.