U.S. patent application number 11/025386 was filed with the patent office on 2005-07-14 for pipe flashing uv shield.
Invention is credited to Erekson, Craig.
Application Number | 20050150176 11/025386 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34742419 |
Filed Date | 2005-07-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050150176 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Erekson, Craig |
July 14, 2005 |
Pipe flashing UV shield
Abstract
A simple, inexpensive device to protect pipe flashing components
from the sun's damaging ultra violet rays. Also, a simple,
inexpensive method for repairing damaged pipe flashing which keeps
both the flashing and repair material protected from the sun.
Inventors: |
Erekson, Craig;
(Lawrenceville, GA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Mr. Craig Erekson
1254 Hadaway Court
Lawrenceville
GA
30043
US
|
Family ID: |
34742419 |
Appl. No.: |
11/025386 |
Filed: |
December 29, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60533544 |
Dec 31, 2003 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
52/58 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04D 13/1476
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/058 |
International
Class: |
E04D 001/36; E04D
003/38; E04D 013/14 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An ultra violet ray shield (UV shield) to shield away ultra
violet rays from the portions of pipe flashing which are prone to
sun damage.
2. The UV shield of claim 1 is made of any material that is ultra
violet ray and weather resistant, such as: metal; wood; ceramic;
and ultra violet ray resistant cloth, plastic, rubber, paint,
granules, flakes, or any other material, which will not deteriorate
much in the sun and weather.
3. The UV shield of claim 1 is made in a truncated conical shape
where the top end of the cone fits snuggly onto the vent pipe and
the lower or outside diameter is larger than portion of the pipe
flashing that needs protection.
4. The UV shield of claim 3 is made with cut lines or tear lines,
which allow the top of the UV shield to be accurately sized to fit
standard pipe diameters.
5. The UV shield of claim 3 is further comprised of the following
steps: (a) cutting a block letter "c" out of sheet metal, (b)
cutting in a tab on one end and cutting several slots in the piece
towards the other end, (c) by locking the tab into different slots,
various sized truncated cones may be formed, each of which fits a
standard pipe size.
6. The UV shield of claim 5 also has cut lines as in claim 4 that
allows the center of the truncated cone to be accurately cut away
with hand-held tin snips, resulting in one piece fitting even
larger pipe diameters.
7. The UV shield of claim 5 or 6 that is reversible has a winged
tab that catches in a slot no matter which side of the sheet metal
is up, allowing two color choices from one metal piece.
8. The UV shield of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, is installed to
protect a repair of damaged elastomeric portions of pipe
flashing.
9. The UV shield of claims 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, is used as a repair of
damaged elastomeric portions of pipe flashing, by using caulk to
seal the underside of the UV shield to the vent pipe, forming a
weather tight UV protected cover over the damage.
10. The UV shield of claims 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 where an elastomeric
sealing collar attached to the underside of the UV shield forms a
UV protected repair collar without the use of caulk.
11. The UV shield of claim 1 or 7 uses UV resistant paint, which is
applied to elasotmeric portions of the pipe flashing.
12. The UV shield of claim 1 or 7 has metal flakes or mineral
granules, which are attached to elasotmeric portions of the pipe
flashing.
Description
CROSS-RFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/533,544 filed Dec. 31, 2003, the entire
disclosure and contents of which is hereby incorporated by
reference.
1 3,313,559 April, 1967 Kifer 3,677,567 July, 1972 Gustafson
4,010,578 March, 1977 Logsdon 4,160,347 July, 1979 Logsdon
4,526,407 July, 1985 Kifer 4,864,782 September, 1989 Hasty
4,903,997 February, 1990 Kifer 5,226,263 July, 1993 Merrin
5,536,048 July, 1996 Orr
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the protection of roof
components from the damaging effects of ultra violet rays from the
sun, and, more particularly, a shield device for blocking out ultra
violet rays from roof pipe flashing components that are susceptible
to ultra violet ray damage.
[0003] Roofing in general deals with first sealing a structure from
moisture and second protecting the sealing material from damage
caused by the sun's ultra violet rays. For example, the standard
built up roof (BUR) uses alternating layers of felt paper and tar
(bitumen) with a final layer of pea gravel to protect the roofing
material from the sun. Also, the standard composition asphalt
shingle has an outer layer of mineral granules to block out UV
rays. Other materials such as paint, wood, aluminum, steel, copper,
and UV resistant plastic and rubber are also used for UV
protection. However, UV protection has generally been ignored in
the design and manufacture of modern pipe flashing that has
elastomeric or caulking material as a seal between the flashing and
the pipe.
[0004] Since the invention of the roof flashing with elstomeric
collar, Kifer (U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,559), there has been a problem
with the elastomeric portion of the flashing becoming brittle,
cracking, peeling, and rotting away because of damage caused by the
sun's ultra violet rays.
[0005] Although there have been many variations and improvements to
roof pipe flashing such as Kifer (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,526,407 and
4,903,997) and Hasty (U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,782), these variations
deal with methods of manufacture. Other improvements like Gustafson
(U.S. Pat. No. 3,677,567), Logsdon (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,010,578 and
4,160,347), and Merrin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,263) deal with forming
a better water tight seal between the pipe and flashing. Even the
new and improved storm collar for venting high efficiency furnaces,
Orr (U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,048), which is designed to seal onto PVC
pipe with PVC glue, ignores the fact that PVC glue breaks down in
the sun.
[0006] Perhaps the above design flaw is due to the fact that most
of the inventors are plumbers or mechanical contractors who are
unfamiliar with what happens to plastics and elastomeric materials
after long term exposure to the sun. Only Merrin (U.S. Pat. No.
5,226,263)is manufacturing a pipe flashing component that is thick
enough and made a material that maintains its sealing properties
after 20 years in the sun. However, even this product will last
longer if it is protected from the sun by the UV Shield.
[0007] In the last two years plumbing material manufactures such as
Oatey and IPS Corporation started marketing a pipe flashing repair
collar, known as a rain collar. This collar is the elastomeric
portion of their pipe flashing without the base. Placing the rain
collar over the damaged pipe flashing makes the repair. Just like
pipe flashing, rain collars need protection from the sun.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is the objective of this invention to shield all pipe
flashing components that are prone to UV damage from the sun. It is
a further object of this invention to provide a UV shield which may
be applied by hand without the need of special tools.
[0009] Yet a further objective is to provide UV shields that fit
snuggly to vent pipes so that they will not be blown away by the
wind.
[0010] It is another objective of this invention to provide a
simple, inexpensive, long lasting method to repair damaged pipe
flashing or to prolong the life of existing repairs or repair
methods.
[0011] A further object of this invention is to minimize the
inventory of UV shields required by warehouses, shops, and roofers
through a greater range of the UV shield's adaptability in the
sizes of vent pipes. It is also an objective to reduce inventory by
designing a UV shield that is reversible, thus providing two colors
with one shield.
[0012] Another object of this invention is to reduce the cost of
these UV shields through use of a design that is easy and
inexpensive to manufacture and through use of a material with a
long life and low cost.
[0013] These and related objectives may be achieved through the use
of the preferred embodiment of the UV shield disclosed below.
[0014] Briefly, the preferred embodiment of this invention
comprises a UV shield in the shape of a truncated cone which is
composed of aluminum or other high durability material that is
known to resist ultra violet ray damage. The truncated cone is
formed by stamping out, from sheet metal with a punch press, a
block letter "c" shape. A tab on one end of the "c" is designed to
catch in one of two or more slots cut into the "c" on the other
end, thus allowing one piece to fit multiple pipe sizes. Cut lines
are also added so that the center of the truncated cone can be
accurately cut away with hand held tin snips, allowing one piece to
fit even larger pipes. The slots and cut lines are accurately
placed so that the UV shield, when sized, will fit snuggly on
standard sized pipes. Use of the UV shield as described in the
preferred embodiment allows the shield to be easily installed by
hand by sliding it down over the pipe until it covers the pipe
flashing. It also ensures that the outer-lower diameter of the UV
shield is larger than the elastomeric portion of the pipe flashing,
thus completely shading the elastomeric portion of the pipe
flashing from the sun.
[0015] In addition, for the repair of cracked or sun damaged
elastomeric collars on pipe flashing, the UV shield is sealed to
the pipe with caulk. Preferably for a repair, the UV shield is
properly sized for the vent pipe, a bead of high durability caulk
is applied completely around the pipe, and the UV shield slides
down through the caulk. Thus, a weather-tight seal is formed to the
vent pipe and a rain shed effect, like an umbrella, prevents water
from entering through the cracks in the damaged pipe flashing. The
caulk stays under the UV shield and is protected from the sun.
Thus, the repair will last for many years.
[0016] Another method of permanent repair is to place a rain collar
over the damaged pipe flashing and then install the UV shield to
protect the rain collar and flashing from further UV ray
damage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the UV shield, showing that
it slides down the pipe to completely shade the elasomeric portion
of the pipe flashing.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred repair method
of damaged pipe flashing using caulk to seal the UV shield to the
pipe.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a top view of the UV shield that is stamped out of
sheet metal with a punch press. A small side view shows the notch
in the tab that that catches in the desired slot to size the UV
shield for a given pipe diameter.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a top view of the reversible design of the UV
shield that is stamped out of sheet metal.
DETAILED DISCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The invention consists of an ultra violet ray shield that
fits around pipe vents and slides down to completely shade or cover
pipe flashing components that are prone to ultra violet ray
damage.
[0022] With reference to FIG. 1, a UV shield is illustrated. The UV
Shield (1) has a truncated conical shape with an outside diameter
(2), which is larger than the diameter of the elastomeric portion
(3) of the pipe flashing (4). The upper lip of the UV shield (1) is
sized so that it fits snuggly onto vent pipe (5). The downward
arrows show that a properly installed UV shield (1) slides down the
pipe to completely cover and shade the elastomeric portion (3).
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates the preferred method to repair ultra
violet ray damaged pipe flashing. The UV shield (1) slides down
vent pipe (5) through continuous caulk bead (6) to form a weather
tight seal between the pipe (5) and the UV shield (1). Thus, the
caulk is protected from the sun by the UV shield. The watershed
effect of the UV shield (1) works like an umbrella preventing water
from entering cracks in the elastomeric portion (3) of the pipe
flashing (4).
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 3, a simple design of the UV shield is
shown. The UV shield (1) is a "c" shape stamped out of sheet metal
with a punch press. A tab (2) is cut so that it fits snuggly into
either one of the slots (3). Slots (3) are accurately placed so
that when the tab (2) slides into a slot (3) and catches in place
by the notch (5), the truncated conical shape created fits snuggly
on a standard pipe size. The line (4) is an optional cut line
allowing the inside portion of UV shield (1) to be accurately cut
away with hand-held tin snips to fit an even larger pipe size.
[0025] Finally, in FIG. 4, another design for the UV shield is
illustrated where the piece is reversible. This design is also
stamped out of sheet metal with a punch press. The UV shield (1) is
cut out of sheet metal that has a different finish color on each
side. Preferably one side has a black finish and the other side has
a mill finish. (The base piece on most pipe flashing is either
black or mill finish.) The winged tab (2) will catch in either slot
(3) no matter which side is up. Thus, one UV shield piece can be
fashioned to match either a black or a mill finish pipe flashing
base. When winged tab (2) is locked into place in one of the slots,
(3) the truncated conical shape created fits snuggly on a standard
pipe size. The line (4) is an optional cut line allowing the inside
portion of UV shield (1) to be accurately cut away with hand-held
tin snips to fit an even larger pipe diameter.
* * * * *