Insulation Bags

The roof structure of an industrial building typically comprises rafter beams which extend parallel to one another across the building and slope from the center of the building down toward its sides, and purlins which extend parallel to one another and which extend across and are mounted on the rafter beams. Hard sheets of exterior roofing material extend over and are attached to the purlins.

In the past, when a roof structure of an industrial building was to be insulated, elongated sheets of insulation material were stretched across the purlins and the sheets of hard roofing material were attached to the purlins through the insulation material. The relatively thin sheets of insulation material were applied to the roof structure by the workmen using the sheets of hard roofing material which were already installed in the roof structure as a working surface. Reels of insulation material were first unwound on the hard sheets of roofing material and the long sheets of insulation material were moved by hand over onto the exposed purlins adjacent the hard roofing material and the lengths of the sheets of insulation material extended across the lengths of the purlins. The sheets of insulation material were stretched to prevent sagging between the purlins, and the hard roofing material was then placed over the insulation material and connected to the purlins.

As set forth in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,914, it has now become common practice to extend the sheets of insulation material along the lengths of the purlins, instead of across the purlins, so as to eliminate the seams between adjacent sheets of insulation material from being exposed inside the building. The new procedure as set forth in my patent has reduced hazards to workmen on the roof by maintaining the reels of insulation material in a relatively static and available position on the exposed purlins without exposing long lengths of a sheet of material to the wind while the workmen remain on the sheets of hard roofing material, so that the occasions when the workmen might be tempted to walk or to climb out on the purlins to place or adjust the sheets of insulation material have been reduced.

Briefly described, the present invention comprises an insulated roof structure for an industrial building, an improved method for insulating the roof structure of an industrial building and a new configuration of heat insulation material used in insulating a roof structure.

The new configuration of insulation material is a discrete body of insulation which fits between adjacent purlins in the roof structure of an industrial building. One embodiment of the body of insulation is a bag formed of vapor impervious material filled with heat insulation material. The bag is of such a design that it can be fitted down between adjacent ones of the purlins in the roof structure. Since the insulation is self-contained within a bag, it can be easily and quickly applied to the roof structure without the problems created by handling long sheets of insulation material or loose insulation material. The bag functions as a container and is made of an air-impervious material and loose heat insulation material is sealed within the bag so that the bag is ready for use.

The insulation bags can be supported between the purlins by using a lattice of support straps. These straps can extend through slots in the purlins or the straps can extend beneath the purlins and the insulation bags rest on top of the straps. The insulation bags can also be supported in the roof structure by building into the bag a side edge portion of flap which protrudes from the bag on two opposite sides. These side edge portions extend over the adjacent purlins and are attached to the purlins. In this way the side edges support the bag which hangs down from the side edges into the space between the adjacent purlins.

In one embodiment of the invention, the side edge portions of the insulation bags, which extend over the upper portions of the purlins, overlap the side edge portions of similar insulation bags extending between the next pair of adjacent purlins. The side edge portions of the bags are held in place by fastening the metal roofing panels to the purlins. These side edge portions can also be held to the upper portions of the purlins by an adhesive or by special clamps.

Another embodiment of the invention also includes bonding together abutting ends of insulation bags supported between the same two adjacent purlins.

In other embodiments of the invention the discrete body of insulation is a self-supporting shape, such as a self-supporting container filled with heat insulation material or insulation material in a monolithic form.

Thus it is an object of this invention to provide an improved insulated roof structure wherein insulation in a discrete body formed in the shape of the spaces between adjacent ones of the purlins in a roof structure can be quickly and easily installed in the roof structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide bodies of insulation that are formed and sized to fit between and be supported by adjacent pairs of parallel purlins in an industrial roof structure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective illustration of a roof structure, according to the invention, showing how the bags of insulation are supported in the roof.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective illustration, similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating a second embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bag of insulation usable with the structure illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bag on insulation usable with the structure illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a bag hanging clip according to the invention.

FIG. 5B is a perspective view of a bag hanging clip similar to FIG. 5A, but illustrating a second, longer embodiment of the clip.

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective illustration of a roof structure, similar to FIG. 1, illustrating how the insulation bags are held in the roof structure by the bag hanging clip.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the roof structure 9 which includes a plurality of spaced parallel purlins 10 mounted on rafters 11. The purlins 10 each include an upwardly extending central web 12, laterally extending lower flange 13 and laterally extending upper flange 14. FIG. 1 illustrates the insulation bags 15 of FIG. 3 being supported between aadjacent ones of the purlins and FIG. 2. illustrates the insulation bags 15a of FIG. 4 being supported in a different manner between adjacent ones of the purlins.

One embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 3 as comprising insulation bags 15 each including a top sheet 16, end sheets 17 and bottom sheet 18. Bag 15 includes side edge portions or flaps 19 which protrude in opposing directions from opposite sides of the insulation bag 15. In the embodiment of the bag shown in FIG. 3, an end protruding flap 20 is formed as an extension of bottom sheet 18 and extends between the protruding side edge portions 19 along the lower edge of one of the end sheets 17. The bag is formed from vapor impermeable material and is filled with heat insulation material 23.

The bag embodiment 15 of FIG. 3 is shown positioned in the roof structure in FIG. 1. This insulation bag 15 is supported between adjacent purlins 10 by its protruding side edge portions or flaps 19. The side portions 19 extend over the upper extending flange 14 of the purlins 10. The top sheet 16 of the bag 15 extends tauntly across the space between adjacent purlins 10 while the bottom sheet 18, along with the insulation 23 filling the inside of the bag 15, hangs between the central webs 12 of adjacent purlins 10.

The protruding side edge portions 19 which overlap the upper flanges 14 of purlins 10 are held in place by the fastening of metal roofing material 21 over the top of the side edge portions 19 onto the upper flange 14 of the purlin 10. Another means of fastening the side edge portions 19 to the upper flange 14 is by the use of an adhesive applied between the protruding side edge portion 19 of the bags 15 and the upper flange 14 of the purlin 10. A third way of fastening the protruding side edge portions 19 of the insulation bags 15 to the purlin 10 is to use a bag hanging clip 22 (shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B). Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B and 6, it can be seen that the bag hanging clip 22 includes a hook shaped edge 24 which surrounds the outer edge of the upper laterally extending flange 14 of the purlins 10; a flat clamping plate 25 which extends over the top of the protruding side edge portions 19 of the insulation bag 15; and a fastening ledge 26. The hook shaped edge 24 is cupped around the purlins upper flange 14 and the clamping plate 25 is brought down on top of the protruding edge 19 thus trapping the edge 19 between the clamping plate 25 and the purlin upper flange 14. The clamping plate 25, and thus the protruding edge 19 of the insulation bag 15, is held in place by placing the metal roofing material 21 on top of the bags 15, clamping plate 25 and protruding edges 19 and subsequently fastening the roofing material 21 to the purlin 10 by using bolts 28 extending through punched holes 29. The protruding edge 19 of the insulation bag 15 and the bag hanging clip 22 can be temporarily held in place by a barb (not shown) extending from the bottom of clamping plate 25. The barb is roughage left from the punching out of holes 29.

The fastening ledge 26 serves to hold one protruding edge portion 19 of an insulation bag 15. The edge portion 19 is tucked behind the fastening ledge 26, as shown in FIG. 6, and the ledge is pressed or bent over the edge portion 19 of the bag 15 thus holding the edge portion 19 tightly. In this way, every insulation bag 15 is supported by its two protruding edge portion 19 one of which is held under the clamping plate 25, as described, and the other edge portion 19 of which is held by the fastening ledge 26 as described. One long bag handing clip 22a (as seen in FIG. 5B) can be used in place of two or three short bag hanging clips 22 (seen in FIG. 5A).

The end protruding seam 20 serves as a connector between the first bag and a second bag which is placed in abuttment with the first bag. An alternate method of joining abutting insulation bags 15 would be to simply tape the adjacent bags together, for example, by using a double-faced tape between the ends of the abutting bags (not shown).

Although the bag material is illustrated and disclosed as being flexible, an alternate embodiment of the invention is to form the insulation body in a self-supporting shape so that the insulation body can be hung between adjacent purlins by the flaps 19 resting on the top surfaces of the purlins and suspending the thicker central portions of the insulation bodies down into the spaces between the purlins. This form of the invention can be provided, for example, by forming the bag structure from self-supportive material and filling the bag with insulation material, or by constructing the insulation body in monolithic form such as extruded expanded plastic such as polystyrene.

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a discrete insulation body shape according to the present invention. The body shape is provided by insulation bag 15a and has no protruding side edge portion 19 to support it from the adjacent purlins 10. Rather the bag 15a fits down between the adjacent purlins 10 and is supported on a lattice of support straps running beneath the insulation bags 15a as shown in FIG. 2. The supporting lattice includes primary support straps 31 which extend through openings 32 in the central webs 12 of the purlins 10. The support straps 31 are spaced at a distance apart sufficient to provide added support to sagging insulation bags 15a. Additional support can be provided to the insulation bags 15a by the use of longitudinal straps 33 placed on top of the primary support straps 31 and extending approximately perpendicular to the support straps 31.

A plurality of openings 32 are formed in the central webs 12 of the purlins at different heights so the straps 31 can be positioned higher or lower in the purlin structure by extending the straps through higher or lower ones of the openings. Also, the straps 31 can be extended beneath the purlins, over the rafter beams 11. In this way, the space between the lattice of straps 31, 33 and the hard external sheets of roofing material 21 can be increased or decreased so as to accommodate thicker or thinner bags of insulation material.

As described previously with respect to the insulation body disclosed in FIG. 3, the insulation body of FIG. 4 can be fabricated in a self-supportive form so that it fits more snugly between the purlins and fewer straps or other support devices are required to support the body between the purlins.

It will be understood that the foregoing relates only to disclosed embodiments of the present invention and that numerous changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.