Curbless Skylight Mounting on Metal Roof Ribs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional skylight and smoke vent installations on metal roofs tend to leak due to dynamic loads causing stress on seals, leading to water infiltration and condensation issues, and require complex support structures that accommodate thermal expansion and contraction differences between roof panels and skylight curbs.
Innovation Solution
A curbless construction system that mounts roof load supports, such as skylights and smoke vents, directly onto the major rib elevations of metal roof panels, utilizing the beam strength of the ribs for support and incorporating thermally insulating materials to reduce leaks and condensation, with a design that includes upper diverters and lower closures to manage water flow and insulation to prevent temperature-related issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional skylight assemblies with curbs are installed through separate roof apertures, then skylights can be mounted to support structures inside the building, but water leakage occurs due to dynamic loads causing stress on sealant barriers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the traditional curb structure entirely, extracting the problematic element that created leakage issues. The skylight assembly is mounted directly to the roof panel without a curb extending through a separate aperture, eliminating the complex box structure that required sealant barriers and was susceptible to foot traffic damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the skylight mounting function directly with the roof panel structure. The skylight frame is attached directly to the roof panel surface, combining what were previously separate elements (curb and roof structure) into a unified installation that eliminates the interface where leakage occurred.
2Illumination intensity
If multiple roof apertures are spaced regularly to achieve desired daylighting levels, then sufficient natural light enters the building, but the number of potential leakage points increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the curb structure that created multiple separate leakage points. By eliminating the curb and mounting the skylight directly to the roof panel, each aperture becomes a single integrated unit rather than a complex assembly with multiple potential failure points, reducing overall leakage risk while maintaining required daylighting levels.
3Reliability
If conventional sealant barriers are applied in panel flats to seal around skylight curbs, then water leakage is initially prevented, but dynamic loads cause sealant deformation and leakage over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the sealant barrier system entirely by eliminating the curb structure. Without a curb creating a perimeter requiring sealant in the panel flat, there is no sealant to deform under foot traffic loads. The direct mounting approach eliminates the vulnerable sealed joint that would fail over time under dynamic loading conditions.
4Strength
If skylight curbs extend through roof apertures and are mounted to building support members, then structural support is provided, but the disparate thermal expansion and contraction of roof panels relative to curbs creates leakage opportunities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the skylight mounting system with the roof panel itself, eliminating the separate curb structure that had different thermal expansion properties. By attaching the skylight directly to the roof panel, both components respond uniformly to thermal changes, eliminating the relative movement and stress that caused leakage at the curb-roof interface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces water leaks and condensation around skylights and smoke vents by leveraging the structural integrity of the roof ribs, allowing the loads to move with the roof panels during thermal expansion and contraction, while providing a more straightforward and effective sealing mechanism.
Implementation Method 1
incorporating thermally insulating materials to reduce leaks and condensation
Data Source
AI summary
Metal panel roofs, and load support structures for supporting loads on such roofs. Side rails provide primary support for loads on such roofs. The side rails can be fabricated from sheet metal or can be extruded. A side rail includes a standing seam cavity which is lowered, and covers, the standing seam. Side walls of the standing seam cavity. An upstanding web extends up from the cavity, and lower shoulders may extend laterally, optionally downwardly, from the walls which define the cavity, on either one side, or both sides, of the cavity. Building roof insulation can extend up through an aperture in the roof, surrounded by such load support structure, and extend up to the top of the side rail, thus providing a thermal break between the load support structure elements and the space surrounded by the load support structure.