Ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system

Abstract

The invention relates to an ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system, which adopts a stainless steel coil on-site rolling forming process, continuously forms the left part / right part of a C-shaped gutter and the middle part of a wave-shaped gutter through a plurality of groups of rollers, and realizes seamless connection through welding seams and mechanical curled edges; the bottom wave-shaped structure is matched with the transverse stiffening ribs and the vertical plate ribs to form a three-dimensional reinforcing system, so that the structural strength is remarkably improved; a full-automatic seam welding machine and an edge locking machine are integrated, full-length welding and automatic edge locking of plate ribs are achieved, and the manual welding amount is reduced. The installation efficiency of the stainless steel gutter is improved, meanwhile, the gutter plate thickness is reduced, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of steel structure buildings, in particular to an ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system. Background Art

[0002] In steel-structured metal roof systems, gutters collect and direct rainwater from the roof. Currently, the industry generally uses 3 mm thick 304 or 316 stainless steel sheets, which are first bent into a U-shaped section in the factory using a folding machine. Each section is typically limited to 1.2 to 1.5 meters in length, limited by the width of the stainless steel coil and the machine's processing width. Dozens or even hundreds of these short U-shaped sections are then delivered to the site and connected using manual TIG or MIG butt welding to form a full-length gutter. Welds are primarily located at the bottom of the gutter and at the corners, requiring 100% post-weld testing with stain or kerosene penetrant testing to ensure leak-proofness. Because gutters often serve as maintenance access routes, the bottom of the slab is a flat, thin plate with low lateral stiffness. To prevent deformation from foot traffic, the plate thickness must be maintained at approximately 3 mm, resulting in high steel consumption and construction costs.

[0003] However, the existing technology has many defects: The number of welds is enormous: a 100-meter-long gutter, if divided into 1.5-meter segments, requires 66 transverse butt welds. Together with the longitudinal fillet welds, the total weld length can reach hundreds of meters. Manual welding is inefficient (an average of 8-10 meters per person per day) and highly dependent on welder skill. On-site exposure to wind, rain, and high-altitude work can lead to significant fluctuations in weld quality, making defects such as undercuts, lack of fusion, and porosity prone to occur, posing a potential leakage risk.

[0004] Bottlenecks in processing and installation: The short sections after folding at the factory need to be packaged, loaded, unloaded, and transported again. A temporary platform must be set up on site for workers to squat and weld, and the number of lifting times is large, resulting in a long construction period.

[0005] Thickness-Stiffness Conflict: Traditional "U"-shaped straight-walled flat panels have a low moment of inertia, requiring increased thickness to ensure adequate stiffness, resulting in material waste. Based on a 3 mm thickness, a 100 m gutter weighs approximately 7 t, with nearly 40% of the steel used solely for stiffness, not strength.

[0006] Difficult to maintain: The weld is located at the bottom of the ditch. Once leakage occurs in the later stage, the roof structure such as insulation cotton and purlins need to be removed before repairing the weld, which results in high maintenance costs.

[0007] In recent years, some patented technologies have begun to try to solve the problems of traditional gutters: On-site processing technology: For example, patent CN113502988B proposes a double-layer waterproof gutter system, which reduces the number of segments through on-site processing, but does not solve the problems of welding efficiency and structural strength.

[0008] Corrugated bottom design: For example, patent CN201649466U uses a corrugated lining to improve strength, but does not combine it with automatic locking technology, and there are still cleaning problems between the protective plate and the corrugated section.

[0009] Automated welding: Some technologies have been introduced into fully automatic seam welding machines, but a systematic integrated solution for on-site processing and edge locking has not been formed.

[0010] The industry has recognized the shortcomings of traditional gutters, but existing technologies are still at the level of single improvement and lack systematic innovation in processing methods, welding processes, and structural design. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The present invention aims to overcome the defects of the prior art and provide an ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system to solve the waterproofing problems of lightweight stainless steel gutter plates on roofs and reduce the amount of gutter welding.

[0012] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention is achieved as follows: An ultra-long, thin stainless steel gutter system, characterized in that it comprises a stainless steel gutter body extending continuously along the roof slope, an automatic lock-edge-seam-welded combined connection portion for longitudinally splicing the gutter body, and prefabricated rain gutters installed at intervals on the gutter body; The gutter body is made of a piece of stainless steel coil and continuously rolled on-site by a mobile roll-forming machine into an integral special-shaped strip with a cross-section of "corrugated bottom + vertical ribs on both sides". The upper surface of the corrugated bottom forms longitudinal peaks and troughs, and the vertical ribs extend upward from both sides of the corrugated bottom. The automatic seam-locking-seam welding combined connection portion comprises: a) The longitudinal full-length weld located at the upper end of the vertical ribs on both sides of the gutter body; b) a 360° mechanical lock edge located outside the weld, which presses the adjacent gutter sections or the gutter body and the left / right part of the gutter in an interlocking manner and covers the weld; The prefabricated rain gutter comprises a stamped wave crest plate that matches the wave crest shape of the wave bottom, a rain water plate, and a rain water pipe extending downward. The rain water gutter is welded and sealed to the gutter body through a hole opened in the wave bottom. Through the above structure, the gutter system can still meet the maintenance load stiffness requirements when the plate thickness is ≤2 mm, and significantly reduce the number of welds and the amount of on-site manual welding.

[0013] The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that: the gutter body is composed of three sections: the left gutter, the middle gutter and the right gutter; The middle part of the gutter is an integral special-shaped strip of the “wave-shaped bottom + vertical ribs on both sides”; The left and right parts of the gutter are mirror-symmetrical "C"-shaped special-shaped materials, with horizontal flanges on the top, transverse stiffening ribs on the vertical gutter walls, and inverted "L"-shaped vertical plate ribs on the bottom; The vertical plate ribs on both sides of the middle part of the gutter are respectively connected with the vertical plate ribs on the left and right parts of the gutter to form two longitudinal full-length welds and then covered by 360° mechanical locking.

[0014] The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the number of the corrugated bottom waves is ≥2, the wave height is 15 mm to 40 mm, and the wave pitch is 60 mm to 150 mm, so that the moment of inertia of the gutter cross section is ≥18 cm under the condition of a plate thickness of 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. 4 / m.

[0015] The ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the mobile roll-forming machine can be set up above the roof purlins, so that the stainless steel coils can be continuously formed on the roof site and directly output a gutter body with the same length as the designed gutter, with a forming speed of ≥8 m / min.

[0016] The ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the 360° mechanical locking is completed in one go by an automatic locking machine, the joint height after locking is ≥30 mm and is located on the upper part of the gutter side wall, away from the water accumulation area at the bottom of the gutter.

[0017] The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the rainwater bucket specifically includes: The rainwater tray is a trapezoidal structure, with the bottom matching the crest tray in the middle of the gutter; The crest plate is integrally formed with the wave-shaped structure in the middle of the gutter; The plug is installed at the end of the rain gutter and connected to the middle of the gutter through mechanical crimping; The rainwater pipe is connected to the rainwater pan by argon arc welding, and the welds are coated with polyurethane sealant.

[0018] The ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the shape tolerance of the crest plate of the rain gutter and the crest in the middle of the gutter is ≤1 mm, and a continuous fillet weld is formed with the periphery of the opening by argon arc welding or laser welding, and the weld height is ≥3 mm.

[0019] The ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system is characterized in that the horizontal flanges on the left and right sides of the gutter also serve as support brackets for the roof panels and are fixed to adjacent roof panels by self-tapping screws or bite-locking, thereby realizing integrated installation of the roof panels and the gutter.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: It can be seen from the above technical solution that the present application provides an ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system, which is different from the existing high-rib welded stainless steel roof ridge method, and has the following advantages: The gutter of the present invention is made into a wave shape and matched with corresponding stiffening ribs. It has higher strength than the traditional straight gutter, the thickness of the raw material used can be greatly reduced, and the steel consumption and cost of the gutter can be greatly reduced.

[0021] The gutter of the present invention can be roll-formed with no length restrictions. The forming equipment can be set up in the air, and the gutter can be directly processed on the roof, which improves installation efficiency. Traditional gutters are processed in factories, usually using a folding machine. Due to the processing technology and the size of the raw materials, the processing length is very short. Large gutters are generally around 1.5 meters, which reduces installation efficiency.

[0022] Traditional stainless steel gutters are relatively short and require a lot of manual welding for assembly, which is inefficient. The welding method of the present invention mainly involves two longitudinal full-length welds, and the welding process uses a fully automatic seam welder for welding. The amount of manual welding for the entire gutter is very small, and the welding efficiency is high.

[0023] The weld seam of the traditional stainless steel gutter is low, and a large part of it is at the bottom of the gutter, which has a great potential for water leakage. The weld seam of the gutter of the present invention is higher, and the potential for water leakage is smaller. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments: Figure 1 It is a front view schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 It is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a rain gutter.

[0027] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the vertical plate ribs at the bottom.

[0028] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the bottom vertical plate ribs after locking. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection requested by this application. like Figure 1 、 2The present invention discloses an ultra-long and thin stainless steel gutter system, which includes a stainless steel gutter body extending continuously along the roof slope direction, an automatic lock-edge-seam welding combined connection part for longitudinally splicing the gutter body, and prefabricated rainwater buckets installed at intervals on the gutter body; Stainless steel gutters can be fabricated on-site. Stainless steel coils are rolled into the desired shape using a forming machine. Lengths are unlimited and can be the same length as the gutter itself. The forming machine can be mounted overhead, allowing the gutter to be formed directly onto the roof. Alternatively, the gutter can be formed on the ground and then hoisted onto the roof.

[0030] The gutter body is made of a piece of stainless steel coil and continuously rolled on-site by a mobile roll-forming machine into an integral special-shaped strip with a cross-section of "corrugated bottom + vertical ribs on both sides". The upper surface of the corrugated bottom forms longitudinal peaks and troughs, and the vertical ribs extend upward from both sides of the corrugated bottom. The automatic seam-locking-seam welding combined connection portion comprises: a) The longitudinal full-length weld located at the upper end of the vertical ribs on both sides of the gutter body; b) a 360° mechanical lock edge located outside the weld, which presses the adjacent gutter sections or the gutter body and the left / right part of the gutter in an interlocking manner and covers the weld; The prefabricated rain gutter 4 comprises a stamped wave crest plate that matches the wave crest shape of the wave bottom, a rain water plate, and a rain water pipe extending downward. The rain water gutter is welded and sealed to the gutter body through a hole opened in the wave bottom. Through the above structure, the gutter system can still meet the maintenance load stiffness requirements when the plate thickness is ≤2 mm, and significantly reduce the number of welds and the amount of on-site manual welding.

[0031] The gutter body is composed of three cross sections: the left gutter section 1, the middle gutter section 3 and the right gutter section 2; The middle part of the gutter is an integral special-shaped strip of the “wave-shaped bottom + vertical ribs on both sides”; The left and right parts of the gutter are mirror-symmetrical "C" shaped special-shaped materials, with horizontal flanges on the top, transverse stiffening ribs 101 on the vertical gutter wall, and inverted "L" shaped vertical plate ribs 102, 202 on the bottom; see Figure 4 .

[0032] The vertical plate ribs 301 and 302 on both sides of the middle part of the gutter are respectively connected with the vertical plate ribs 102 and 202 on the left and right parts of the gutter to form two longitudinal full-length welds and then covered by 360° mechanical locking.

[0033] The middle waveform of the gutter middle part 3 can be 2 waves or more waves. The plate rib 102 is in an "n" shape before the edge is locked. The shape of the vertical plate rib 102 and the vertical plate rib 360 degree edge is shown. Figure 5 .

[0034] The number of the waveforms of the waveform bottom is ≥2, the wave height is 15 mm to 40 mm, and the wave distance is 60 mm to 150 mm, so that the moment of inertia of the gutter cross section is ≥18 cm under the condition of the plate thickness of 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. 4 / m.

[0035] The mobile roll forming machine can be erected above the roof purlins, so that the stainless steel coils can be continuously formed on the roof site and directly output the gutter body with the same length as the designed gutter, with a forming speed of ≥8 m / min.

[0036] The 360° mechanical locking is completed in one go by an automatic locking machine. The joint height after locking is ≥30 mm and is located on the upper part of the gutter side wall, away from the water accumulation area at the bottom of the gutter.

[0037] like Figure 3 As shown: the rainwater bucket 4 specifically includes: The rainwater tray 401 has a trapezoidal structure, and its bottom matches the crest tray 403 in the middle of the gutter; The crest plate 403 is integrally formed with the corrugated structure in the middle of the gutter; The plug 404 is installed at the end of the rain gutter 4 and is connected to the middle of the gutter by mechanical crimping; The rainwater pipe 402 is connected to the rainwater tray 401 by argon arc welding, and the weld is coated with polyurethane sealant.

[0038] Before installing the rain gutter 4, first cut a suitable hole in the middle of the gutter 3, and then install the rain gutter 4 at the hole above the middle of the gutter 3. Use welds to connect and seal each other, and the welding process adopts manual welding, which can be argon arc welding or laser welding.

[0039] The shape tolerance of the crest plate 403 of the rain gutter and the crest of the middle part of the gutter is ≤1 mm, and a continuous fillet weld is formed with the periphery of the opening by argon arc welding or laser welding, and the weld height is ≥3 mm.

[0040] The horizontal flanges on the left and right sides of the gutter also serve as supporting brackets for the roof panels and are fixed to adjacent roof panels by self-tapping screws or bite-engaging, thereby achieving integrated installation of the roof panels and the gutter.

[0041] The present invention adopts the special-shaped cross-section design of "wave-shaped bottom + vertical ribs on both sides", and the gutter can obtain a thickness of ≥18 cm under the condition of 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm thin plate. 4The cross-sectional moment of inertia is 0.5 / m, meeting the stiffness requirements under personnel maintenance loads. Compared with the traditional 3mm-thick straight "U"-shaped section, the steel thickness is reduced by 30% to 50%, and the overall steel consumption is reduced by over 40%. This directly reduces material, transportation, and lifting costs, and the overall construction cost can be reduced by 35% to 45%.

[0042] Traditional solutions require manual joining of short 1.2-1.5 m sections, with the number of welds increasing linearly with gutter length. This new method utilizes on-site continuous roller forming, allowing the entire gutter to be formed to the designed length in one go. The longitudinal joint only requires two full-length welds, and combined with automatic seam welding and 360° mechanical locking, the total weld length is reduced by over 70%. The automatic welding process is stable, with consistent penetration depth, and completely eliminates defects such as undercut and lack of fusion caused by human error. It reduces the number of on-site welders by 60% and shortens the construction period by over 50%.

[0043] Traditional gutter welds are often located at the bottom of the gutter, where water accumulates easily. These welds are subject to long-term rainwater soaking, leading to a high probability of leakage. This new design elevates the two longitudinal welds to the upper sidewalls, away from the waterline. The outer edges of the welds are then completely covered with 360° mechanical seams, creating a "double-safety" waterproof structure. A 24-hour water storage test confirmed no leakage at a static water level of 50 mm. Subsequent maintenance requires only an inspection of the seams, significantly reducing operating and maintenance costs.

[0044] The mobile roll-forming machine can be installed directly above the roof purlins, forming stainless steel coils as they travel, ensuring "production in the required length," completely eliminating the bottlenecks of factory-bound hem length restrictions, segmented packaging, and secondary transport. With a forming speed of ≥8 m / min, a 120-meter gutter can be roll-formed in just 15 minutes. The entire gutter can then be hoisted into place, simultaneously with the roof panels, eliminating the critical path of the roof system.

[0045] The horizontal flanges on the left and right sides of the gutter also serve as support brackets for the roof panels. They are secured to adjacent roof panels using self-tapping screws or snap-fitting methods, eliminating the need for separate purlin supports found in traditional solutions. This simplifies the installation and reduces labor and material costs. Furthermore, the horizontal flanges form a flat stepping platform, enhancing maintenance safety. The corrugated base serves the dual purpose of "diversion" and "reinforcement," achieving an optimal balance between drainage performance, structural rigidity, and architectural appearance.

[0046] The crest of the rain gutter and the central wave pattern of the gutter are stamped using the same die, with a dimensional tolerance of ≤1 mm, enabling "mock-style" installation. The rain gutter, crest, plug, and rain pipe are prefabricated in the factory, requiring only three on-site steps: positioning, drilling, and welding, significantly reducing on-site machining errors. The weld seam is ≥3 mm high and coated with polyurethane sealant, ensuring the same level of waterproof reliability as the gutter itself, extending the overall system life to over 25 years.

[0047] The above are only embodiments provided for this application and are not intended to limit this application. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or replace some of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. An ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system, characterized by: The invention comprises a stainless steel gutter body continuously extending along the roof slope direction, an automatic lock-edge-seam welding combined connection part for longitudinally splicing the gutter body, and prefabricated rainwater buckets installed at intervals on the gutter body; The gutter body is made of a piece of stainless steel coil and continuously rolled on-site by a mobile roll-forming machine into an integral special-shaped strip with a cross-section of "corrugated bottom + vertical ribs on both sides". The upper surface of the corrugated bottom forms longitudinal peaks and troughs, and the vertical ribs extend upward from both sides of the corrugated bottom. The automatic seam-locking-seam welding combined connection portion comprises: a) The longitudinal full-length weld located at the upper end of the vertical ribs on both sides of the gutter body; b) a 360° mechanical lock edge located outside the weld, which presses the adjacent gutter sections or the gutter body and the left / right part of the gutter in an interlocking manner and covers the weld; The prefabricated rain gutter comprises a stamped wave crest plate that matches the wave crest shape of the wave bottom, a rain water plate, and a rain water pipe extending downward. The rain water gutter is welded and sealed to the gutter body through a hole opened in the wave bottom. Through the above structure, the gutter system can still meet the maintenance load stiffness requirements when the plate thickness is ≤2 mm, and significantly reduce the number of welds and the amount of on-site manual welding.

2. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gutter body is composed of three sections: the left gutter, the middle gutter and the right gutter; The middle part of the gutter is an integral special-shaped strip of "wave-shaped bottom + vertical ribs on both sides"; The left and right parts of the gutter are mirror-symmetrical "C"-shaped special-shaped materials, with horizontal flanges on the top, transverse stiffening ribs on the vertical gutter walls, and inverted "L"-shaped vertical plate ribs on the bottom; The vertical plate ribs on both sides of the middle part of the gutter are respectively connected with the vertical plate ribs on the left and right parts of the gutter to form two longitudinal full-length welds and then covered by 360° mechanical locking.

3. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The number of the waveforms of the waveform bottom is ≥2, the wave height is 15 mm to 40 mm, and the wave distance is 60 mm to 150 mm, so that the moment of inertia of the gutter cross section is ≥18 cm under the condition of the plate thickness of 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm. 4 / m.

4. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mobile roll forming machine can be erected above the roof purlins, so that the stainless steel coils can be continuously formed on the roof site and directly output the gutter body with the same length as the designed gutter, with a forming speed of ≥8 m / min.

5. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 360° mechanical locking is completed in one go by an automatic locking machine. The joint height after locking is ≥30 mm and is located on the upper part of the gutter side wall, away from the water accumulation area at the bottom of the gutter.

6. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 1, characterized in that The rainwater bucket specifically includes: The rainwater tray is a trapezoidal structure, with the bottom matching the crest tray in the middle of the gutter; The crest plate is integrally formed with the wave-shaped structure in the middle of the gutter; The plug is installed at the end of the rain gutter and connected to the middle of the gutter through mechanical crimping; The rainwater pipe is connected to the rainwater pan by argon arc welding, and the welds are coated with polyurethane sealant.

7. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The shape tolerance of the crest plate of the rain gutter and the crest in the middle of the gutter is ≤1 mm, and a continuous fillet weld is formed with the periphery of the opening by argon arc welding or laser welding, and the weld height is ≥3 mm.

8. The ultra-long thin stainless steel gutter system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The horizontal flanges on the left and right sides of the gutter also serve as supporting brackets for the roof panels and are fixed to adjacent roof panels by self-tapping screws or bite-engaging, thereby achieving integrated installation of the roof panels and the gutter.

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