ROOFING COMPOSITE PANEL AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION THEREOF

Abstract

A composite panel, has: an insulating subpanel having a bottom face to be secured to a substrate and a top face opposed to the bottom face, the top face and the bottom face delimited by interconnected edges of the insulating subpanel; a polymer membrane adhered to a portion of the top face, the polymer membrane including a flap, the flap extending from a membrane edge of the membrane to a junction between the flap and a remainder of the polymer membrane, the junction being recessed inwardly from an edge of the interconnected edges of the insulating subpanel such that a portion of the top face of the insulating subpanel is free from attachment to the polymer membrane, a length of the flap extending from the membrane edge to the junction being greater than a distance between the edge of the interconnected edges and the junction.

Claims

1. A composite panel, comprising: an insulating subpanel having a bottom face to be secured to a substrate and a top face opposed to the bottom face, the top face and the bottom face delimited by interconnected edges of the insulating subpanel; a polymer membrane adhered to a portion of the top face, the polymer membrane including a flap, the flap extending from a membrane edge of the membrane to a junction between the flap and a remainder of the polymer membrane, the junction being recessed inwardly from an edge of the interconnected edges of the insulating subpanel such that a portion of the top face of the insulating subpanel is free from attachment to the polymer membrane, a length of the flap extending from the membrane edge to the junction being greater than a distance between the edge of the interconnected edges and the junction.

2. The composite panel of claim 1, wherein the length is about twice the distance between the edge of the interconnected edges and the junction.

3. The composite panel of claim 1, comprising an adhesive applied to the flap.

4. The composite panel of claim 3, comprising a release membrane in contact and overlapping the adhesive, the release membrane removable from the flap.

5. The composite panel of claim 4, wherein the flap includes a proximal section and a distal section, the proximal section located between the distal section and an intersection between the flap and the remainder of the polymer membrane, the adhesive located on the proximal section, the distal section being free of the adhesive.

6. The composite panel of claim 1, wherein a width of the flap is about 6 inches.

7. The composite panel of claim 1, wherein the insulating panel is made of one or more of polyisocyanurate, polystyrene, fiber, stone wool, and rock wool.

8. The composite panel of claim 1, wherein the insulating panel has a density of from 80 to 140 lb/ft.sup.2, inclusively.

9. The composite panel of claim 1, wherein the polymer membrane is made of one or more of thermoplastic polyolefin and polyvinyl chloride.

10. The composite panel of claim 1, comprising fastener-receiving locations for receiving fasteners through the insulating subpanel, the fastener-receiving locations located within the portion of the top face free from attachment to the polymer membrane.

11. The composite panel of claim 10, wherein the fastener-receiving locations are defined by fastening apertures, reinforcing inserts received within the fastening apertures.

12. An assembly of composite panels for a roof, comprising: a first composite panel and a second composite panel located adjacent the second composite panel, the first composite panel having: an insulating subpanel having a bottom face to be secured to a substrate and a top face opposed to the bottom face, the top face and the bottom face delimited by interconnected edges of the insulating subpanel; a polymer membrane adhered to a portion of the top face, the polymer membrane including a flap, the flap ending at a membrane edge located outwardly of the insulating subpanel and overlapping a joint between the first composite panel and the second composite panel.

13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the flap overlaps the joint, a first row of fasteners extending through the insulating subpanel, and a second row of fasteners extending through a second insulating subpanel of the second composite panel.

14. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the flap is fused to a second polymer membrane of the second composite panel.

15. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the insulating panel is made of one or more of polyisocyanurate, polystyrene, fiber, stone wool, and rock wool.

16. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the flap is secured to the insulating subpanel and to the second composite panel via an adhesive.

17. A method of installing a composite panel on a roof, the composite panel including an insulating subpanel and a polymer membrane adhered to the insulating subpanel, the method comprising: disposing the composite panel on a substrate of the roof; lifting a flap of the polymer membrane thereby exposing an edge portion of the insulating subpanel and fastening the insulating subpanel to the substrate; and adhering the flap to both of the edge portion of the insulating subpanel and to an adjacent composite panel.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the adhering of the flap includes covering both of a joint between the insulating subpanel and the adjacent composite panel and a row of fasteners extending through the adjacent composite panel.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the adhering of the flap includes peeling of a release membrane disposed on the flap to expose an adhesive and adhering the flap using the adhesive.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the adhering of the flap further includes fusing a distal section of the flap to a second polymer membrane of the adjacent composite panel.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Reference is now made to the accompanying figures in which:

[0030] FIG. 1 is a side view of a composite panel in accordance with one embodiment;

[0031] FIG. 2 is a top view of the composite panel of FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an installation of a plurality of composite panels; and

[0033] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating steps of a method of installing composite panels as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] Referring to FIG. 1, a composite panel is shown at 10. The composite panel 10 is used to cover a substrate S. The substrate S may include, for instance, a roof, a wall, a floor, and so on. The substrate S may correspond to structural members of a building such as beams. The composite panel 10 may therefore define an external visible layer of a building and may be exposed to the elements (e.g., rain, snow, etc). The composite panel 10 is used for insulation as well as for preventing water infiltration in the building. The composite panel 10 may have a stiffness able to withstand loads imparted thereto. These loads may include, for instance, wind, weight of people walking on the composite panel 10, snow, rain, and so on. The composite panel 10 includes a layering structure. The composite panel 10 may be entirely fabricated in plant, as opposed to being assembled on the construction site and may have a size of about 36 by about 48 or 48 by 192. Other sizes are contemplated.

[0035] In the depicted embodiment, the composite panel 10 includes an insulating subpanel 20 and a polymer membrane 30. The insulating subpanel 20 is described below with reference numerals in the 20's whereas the polymer membrane is described below with reference numerals in the 30's.

[0036] The insulating subpanel 20 may be made of polyisocyanurate, polystyrene (e.g., EPS), fiber, stone wool, rock wool, gypsum or any other suitable materials. Any combinations of these material are contemplated. The insulating panel may have a density of from 80 to 140 lb/ft.sup.2. For instance, the insulating subpanel 20 may be made of a hybrid of two or more of these materials or made of many superposed layers each made of one or more of these materials. It will be appreciated that the insulating subpanel 20 is depicted here as including a single layer, it may alternatively includes two or more layers superposed on top of one another. Each of the two or more layers may be made of its respective material. For instance, one of the layers may have a more structural function (e.g., fiberboard layer) whereas another one of the layers may have an insulating function. The two or more layers may be molded into a monolithic piece. Any combinations are contemplated.

[0037] Referring to FIGS. 1-2, the insulating subpanel 20 has a thickness defined between a bottom face 21 and a top face 22 opposed to the bottom face 21. The bottom face 21 faces the substrate S whereas the top face 22 faces away from the substrate S. The insulating subpanel 20 has edges illustrated with dashed lines in FIG. 2. The edges include two lateral edges 23 and two transversal edges 24 extending from one of the two lateral edges 23 to the other. In the pictured embodiment, the insulating subpanel 20 has a rectangular shape including four edges. It will however be appreciated that the insulating subpanel 20 may have any other suitable shape such as, for instance, square, triangular, circular, and so on depending of the intended application. The top face 22 and the bottom face 21 are delimited by these edges 23, 24. In this case, the top face 22 extends from one of the lateral edges 23 to the other and from one of the transversal edges 24 to the other.

[0038] The insulating subpanel 20 may optionally include fastening-receiving locations, such as fastening apertures 25 extending through the insulating subpanel 20 from the top face 22 to the bottom face 21. The fastening-receiving locations may be, in some embodiments, indicators (e.g., markings) to indicate where to insert fasteners, such as screws. The fastening apertures 25 may be provided along a periphery of the insulating subpanel 20 as depicted in FIG. 2. However, the fastening apertures 25 may be located at any suitable locations on the panel. The fastening apertures 25 may be used to receive fasteners (e.g., screws, bolts, etc) used to secure the insulating subpanel 20 to the substrate S. The fastening apertures 25 may be omitted in some embodiments. Inserts 26 may be received within the fastening apertures 25 and may be used to reinforce the insulating subpanel 20 at the apertures 25. The inserts 26 may prevent the insulating subpanel 20 from tearing at the apertures 25 when a load is imparted to the insulating subpanel 20. The inserts 26 may be made of metal or any other suitable material for reinforcing the subpanel at the apertures 25. For example, the inserts 26 may be eyelets or like annular rings, tubes, etc. The inserts 26 may be omitted in some embodiments.

[0039] In some embodiments, an adhesive layer 27 may be disposed on the bottom face 21 of the insulating subpanel 20. The adhesive layer 27 may be used to secure the composite panel 10 to the substrate S. In some embodiments, a backing sheet (also known as a release liner) may be used to protect same the composite panel 10 during storage and/or transportation. The backing sheet may be removed at the construction site prior to installation of the composite panel 10. However, the composite panel 10 shown in FIG. 1 may be provided without the adhesive layer 27, which adhesive can be applied on site. In some embodiments, the adhesive layer 27 is part of a vapor-barrier layer, with the exposed face of the vapor-barrier layer exposing adhesive, for instance covered by a backing sheet. A suitable vapor-barrier layer may have a high-density polyethylene top side facing the bottom face 21 of the insulating subpanel 20, woven or as a film. An aluminum film is another possible material for the top side of the vapor-barrier layer. The adhesive layer 27 may include SBS (modified bitumen, i.e., asphalt mixture with rubber modifiers and solvents). The vapor-barrier layer is for example a material selected according to ASTM D2178, ASTM E96.

[0040] The insulating subpanel 20 may provide suitable thermal insulation to the composite panel 10. However, in order to maintain its insulation properties, it may be required to be protected against water as water may fill porosities of the insulating subpanel 20 thereby affecting its insulating properties.

[0041] The composite panel 10 is equipped with the polymer membrane 30 disposed over the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20. The polymer membrane 30 may be waterproof. The polymer membrane 30 may be made of thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or like copolymer. Any combinations of these materials and any suitable material are contemplated. For instance, the polymer membrane 30 may include many layers made of different materials or of the same material. In a variant, the polymer membrane 30 is made of a material that is hot-air weldable, i.e., hot air may suffice in allowing the polymer membrane to fuse to itself, when two membranes 30 are overlaid, as described herein. The polymer membrane 30 may also be single ply, i.e., monoply, as a possibility among others.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 1, the polymer membrane 30 is adhered to a portion of the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20. With conventional installations, subpanels are first installed on the substrate S and a polymer membrane is unrolled flat over the subpanels. This may be time consuming as these rolls are heavy and difficult to manipulate. Hence, more employees are required for its installation. This increases costs. Moreover, time has to be allowed for the membrane to be rid of any residual stress before it is adhered to the subpanels. The present composite panel 10 may at least partially alleviate these drawbacks.

[0043] In the depicted embodiment, the polymer membrane 30 is pre-attached to the insulating subpanel 20. Thus, employees may no longer be required to carry the step of attaching the membrane to the subpanels. The polymer membrane 30 covers the insulating subpanel 20 and has a bottom face 31 and a top face 32 opposed to the bottom face 31. The bottom face 31 of the polymer membrane 30 faces the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20. An adhesive layer may be used to secure the polymer membrane 30 to the insulating subpanel 20. The adhesive layer may include any suitable glue. The adhesive layer is applied for example in plant.

[0044] As depicted on FIG. 2, the polymer membrane 30 includes edges. The polymer membrane 30 has opposed lateral edges 33 and opposed transversal edges 34. The transversal edges 34 extend from one of the lateral edges 33 to the other. A shape or footprint of the polymer membrane 30 substantially matches that of the insulating subpanel 20, but may cover a greater surface area than the insulating subpanel 20 as will be explained below.

[0045] In the embodiment shown, the polymer membrane 30 includes a first flap 35 and a second flap 36. The first flap 35 extends from one of the lateral edges 33 of the polymer membrane 30 to a first junction I1 between the first flap 35 and a remainder of the polymer membrane 30. The second flap 36 extends from one of the transversal edges 34 towards a second junction 12 between the second flap 36 and a remainder of the polymer membrane 30. In this configuration, two flaps are provided, but only one, or more than two flaps may be used in alternate embodiments. The description below refers to the first flap 35, but may apply similarly to the second flap 36. Hence, the description below will refer to the flap 35 in the singular form for clarity.

[0046] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first junction I1 is recessed inwardly from one of the lateral edges 23 of the insulating subpanel 20. Therefore, a portion of the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20 is free from attachment to the polymer membrane 30. Stated differently, the flap 35 may be seen as a free or floating portion of the polymer membrane 30 as it may be moved relative to the insulating subpanel 20. The first junction I1 may define a hinge about which the flap 35 may be pivoted from a transverse position as shown in FIG. 1 and in which the flap 35 is distanced from the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20 to a flat position shown in FIG. 2 in which the flap 35 is substantially parallel to the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20. By being recessed inwardly, it is understood that the flap 35 is attached to the insulating subpanel 20 at a location being offset from one of its edges, herein, offset from one of the lateral edges 23. Therefore, the first junction I1 overlaps the top face 22 of the insulating subpanel 20 and is spaced apart from one of the edges of the insulating subpanel 20. The fastener-receiving locations, such as the fastening apertures 25, when present, are located within the portion of the top face 22 free from attachment to the polymer membrane 30. In a variant, there are only apertures 25 along the longer transverse edge 24 of the panel 20, not along the shorter transverse edge 23 (reverse arrangement is possible).

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 1-2, the flap 35 overlaps a portion of the periphery of the insulated subpanel 20 where the fastening apertures 25 are located. Therefore, the flap 35 may be pivoted to give access to the fastening apertures 25 for the time required to fasten the insulating subpanel 20 to the substrate S. Hence, the flap 35 may correspond to a floating portion of the polymer membrane 30. The flap 35 may then be moved to cover the fastening apertures 25 and the fasteners F (FIG. 3) received therethrough.

[0048] A length L of the flap 35 extends from one of the edges (e.g., lateral edge 33) of the membrane 30 to the first junction I1. The length L is greater than a distance D between one of the edges (e.g., lateral edge 23) of the subpanel 20 and the first junction I1. The length L of the flap 35 may be about twice the distance D between the lateral edge 23 of the subpanel 20 and the first junction I1. Herein, the expression about implies variations of plus or minus 10%.

[0049] In the exemplified embodiment, an adhesive 37 is applied to the flap 35. The adhesive 37 is applied on the bottom face 31 of the polymer membrane 30 at the flap 35 and faces towards the insulating subpanel 20. A release membrane 38 may be disposed over the adhesive 37. The release membrane 38 is thus in contact and overlaps the adhesive 37 and is removable from the flap 35. The release membrane 38 may therefore protect the adhesive 37 and an employee may peel off this membrane when it is desired to adhere the flap 35 to the insulating subpanel 20. The release membrane 38 may be omitted in some configurations.

[0050] In the embodiment shown, the length L of the flap 35 may be about 6 inches. The length L is selected such that the flap 35 is sufficiently wide cover peripheries of two adjacent insulating subpanels 20. The flap 35 therefore extend beyond a gap or joint defined between two adjacent insulating subpanels 20. The gap is thus overlapped by the flap 35. The length L of the flap 35 may be selected to further overlap fasteners extending through the adjacent subpanel 20.

[0051] Still referring to FIG. 1, the flap 35 may include a proximal section 35A and distal section 35B. The proximal section 35A is located between the distal section 35B and the intersection I1 between the flap 35 and the remainder of the polymer membrane 30. The adhesive 37 may be located on the proximal section 35A. The distal section 35B may be free of the adhesive 37. An imaginary separation between the two sections is shown with a dotted line in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, the flap 35 may be devoid of the adhesive. Hence, the adhesive may be applied on site by employees installing the composite panel 10. In some cases, the adhesive is not required and the flap 35 may be secured to the polymer membrane 30 of an adjacent composite panel 10 via a welding or fusing method. In some embodiments, the adhesive 37 covers an entirety of the flap 35 and extends up to the lateral edge 33 (or transversal edge 34 for the second flap 36).

[0052] Referring now to FIG. 3, the different components of the composite panel 10 having been described, a method of installing those panels is now described.

[0053] The composite panel 10 may be disposed over the substrate S one after the other. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the composite panel 10 on the right of the Figure is installed first, then the panel on the middle, and then the panel on the left is installed. When installing a subsequent panel, care is taken to lift the flap 35 to ensure that the flap 35 is not pinched between the subsequent panel and the substrate S. The composite panels 10 may be fastened to the substrate S with the fasteners F. However, as mentioned above, this step is optional. At which point, an employee may secure the flaps 35 to the polymer membrane 30 of an adjacent composite panel ensuring that the flaps 35 overlap the gaps or joints between the adjacent panels.

[0054] In the disclosed embodiment, the release membranes 38 may be peeled off the adhesive 37 and the flaps 35 may be pivoted until the adhesive 37 contacts the insulating subpanel 20 thereby covering the fastening apertures 25 and until the adhesive 37 contacts the polymer membrane 30 of the adjacent composite panel 10. At that point, the flaps 35 may be welded or fused to the polymer membrane 30 of the adjacent composite panel 10. In this embodiment, the distal section 35B of the flaps 35 may be heated such as to create a monolithic weld bond between the distal section 35B of the flaps 35 and the polymer membrane 30 of the adjacent composite panel 20. The welding or fusing step may be carried out using hot air.

[0055] The disclosed composite panel 10 may allow a cost-effective and efficient installation. Employees are no longer required to manipulate heavy rolls of polymer membrane. Moreover, the flaps of the composite panel 10 may reduce risks of inappropriate installation since they are self-adhesive. The disclosed composite panel 10 may provide advantages of both fixed systems and adhered systems.

[0056] FIG. 3 therefore illustrates an assembly of composite panels 10 for a roof. In this embodiment, the polymer membranes of these panels 10 include the flaps 35 which end at respective membrane edges (e.g., lateral edges 33). The membrane edges are located outwardly of the respective insulating subpanels 20 and overlap respective joints between two respective adjacent sub panels 20. In the embodiment shown, the flaps 35 overlap first and second rows of fasteners extending through the two respective adjacent subpanels 20. Ends of the flaps 35 are fused or otherwise adhered to the polymer membranes 30 of the respective adjacent panels.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 4, a method of installing a composite panel 10 on a roof is shown at 400. The method 400 includes disposing the composite panel 10 on the substrate S of the roof at 402; lifting the flap 35 of the polymer membrane 30 thereby exposing an edge portion of the insulating subpanel 20 and fastening the insulating subpanel 20 to the substrate S at 404; and adhering the flap 35 to both of the edge portion of the insulating subpanel 20 and to an adjacent composite panel 10.

[0058] In some embodiments, the adhering of the flap 35 at 406 includes covering both of the joint between the insulating subpanel 20 and the adjacent composite panel 10 and a row of fasteners extending through the adjacent composite panel 10. The adhering of the flap 35 at 404 may include peeling of the release membrane 38 disposed on the flap 35 to expose the adhesive 37 and adhering the flap 35 using the adhesive 37. In some embodiments, the adhering of the flap 35 further includes fusing the distal section 35B of the flap 35 to a second polymer membrane 30 of the adjacent composite panel 10.

[0059] In the context of the present disclosure, the expression about implies variations of plus or minus 10%.

[0060] It is noted that various connections are set forth between elements in the preceding description and in the drawings. It is noted that these connections are general and, unless specified otherwise, may be direct or indirect and that this specification is not intended to be limiting in this respect. A coupling between two or more entities may refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection. An indirect connection may incorporate one or more intervening entities. The term connected or coupled to may therefore include both direct coupling (in which two elements that are coupled to each other contact each other) and indirect coupling (in which at least one additional element is located between the two elements).

[0061] It is further noted that various method or process steps for embodiments of the present disclosure are described in the following description and drawings. The description may present the method and/or process steps as a particular sequence. However, to the extent that the method or process does not rely on the particular order of steps set forth herein, the method or process should not be limited to the particular sequence of steps described. As one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, other sequences of steps may be possible. Therefore, the particular order of the steps set forth in the description should not be construed as a limitation.

[0062] Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. As used herein, the terms comprises, comprising, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0063] While various aspects of the present disclosure have been disclosed, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the present disclosure as described herein includes several aspects and embodiments that include particular features. Although these particular features may be described individually, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that some or all of these features may be combined with any one of the aspects and remain within the scope of the present disclosure. References to various embodiments, one embodiment, an embodiment, an example embodiment, etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. The use of the indefinite article a as used herein with reference to a particular element is intended to encompass one or more such elements, and similarly the use of the definite article the in reference to a particular element is not intended to exclude the possibility that multiple of such elements may be present.

[0064] The embodiments described in this document provide non-limiting examples of possible implementations of the present technology. Upon review of the present disclosure, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of the present technology. Yet further modifications could be implemented by a person of ordinary skill in the art in view of the present disclosure, which modifications would be within the scope of the present technology.