Plastic covered building structures

Claim 2

A plastic covered building structure comprising a plurality of rafter members positioned in spaced apart relationship, a ridge rail secured to the tops of said rafter members and extending the length of the building structure, said ridge rail having top, bottom, and side surfaces, two upwardly concave portions integral with and oppositely disposed on either side of said ridge rail, two clamping rods, each of said rods received in one of said upwardly concave portions and extending the length thereof, means provided and operative at any point along the length of said ridge rail top for clamping said rods into said upwardly concave portions, two superimposed plastic sheets secured along their top margin between one of the upwardly concave portions of the ridge rail and the complementary rod, means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure, the central portion of said superimposed plastic sheets being inflated to thereby space them apart.

Claim 3

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for clamping the rods into the upwardly concave portions of the ridge rail comprises a longitudinally extending channel in the top surface of said ridge rail longitudinally extending grooves in the opposing interior vertical walls of said channel, the grooves in the opposing walls being in staggered relationship, at least one bolt having a thread with an identical pitch as the grooves in said channel, and at least one clamp secured to said ridge rail by said bolt and clamping said rods in the concave portions of the ridge rail, whereby said clamp may be secured to said ridge rail to clamp said rods at any position along the length of said ridge rail.

Claim 4

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 2 wherein the means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets comprises a vent rail secured to the rafter members at a position horizontally below the ridge rail and extending the length of the building structure, said vent rail having top, bottom, and side surfaces, and having an upwardly concave portion integral with and on at least one side of the vent rail, a clamping rod received in the upwardly concave portion of said vent rail and extending the length thereof, and means for clamping said rod into said concave portion of said vent rail, the superimposed sheets of plastic being secured along their lower margin between the concave portion of the vent rail and the complementary rod.

Claim 5

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the means for clamping the rod into the concave portion of the vent rail comprises a longitudinally extending channel in the top surface of said vent rail, longitudinally extending grooves in the opposing interior vertical walls of said channel, the grooves in the opposing walls being in staggered relationship, a bolt having a thread with an identical pitch as the grooves in the channel, and a clamp secured to said vent rail by said bolt and clamping said rod in the concave portion of the vent rail, whereby said clamp may be secured to said vent rail to clamp said rod at any position along the length of said vent rail.

Claim 6

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 2 wherein the means for securing the end margins of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure comprises a gable rail secured to the upper portion of each end rafter member, said gable rail having an upwardly concave portion integral with and disposed on a side of said gable rail, a clamping rod received in the concave portion of said gable rail, and means for clamping said rod into said concave portion, the superimposed sheets of plastic being secured along their end margin between the concave portion of the gable rail and the complementary rod.

Claim 7

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the concave portion of the ridge rail and the vent rail are serrated and the clamping rods received in the concave portions are also serrated.

Claim 8

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 3 wherein the vent rail is secured to the lower parts of the rafter members by at least one bolt passing through a longitudinally extending slot in the bottom surface of said vent rail, the head of the bolt engaging the bottom surface of the vent rail, said bolt being secured to the rafter members.

Claim 9

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 7 wherein the upwardly concave portion of the vent rail is formed in a flange protruding from a side surface of said vent rail.

Claim 10

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 8 wherein the vent rail is extruded.

Claim 11

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 5 whiCh further comprises a sheet of plastic draped to cover the end of the building structure, and means on said gable rail for securing the top margin of said plastic sheet to said building structure.

Claim 12

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 10 wherein said plastic sheet securing means comprises a second upwardly concave portion integral with and disposed on a side of said gable rail opposite said first concave portion, a clamping rod received in the second concave portion of said gable rail, and means for clamping said rod into said concave portion.

Claim 13

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 11 wherein the concave portions of the gable rail are serrated and the rods received in the concave portions are also serrated.

Claim 14

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 12 wherein the gable rail is extruded.

Claim 15

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 12 wherein the means for clamping the rods into the concave portions of the gable rail comprises openings in the top surface of said rail aligned with tapped holes in the upper portion of the rafter member, bolts received through said openings and into said tapped holes, and clamps secured to said gable rail by said bolts and clamping at least one of said rods in a concave portion of the gable rail.

Claim 16

A plastic covered building structure comprising a plurality of rafter members positioned in spaced apart relationship, a ridge rail secured to the tops of said rafter members and extending the length of the building structure, said ridge rail having top, bottom, and side surfaces, two upwardly concave portions integral with and oppositely disposed on either side of said ridge rail, two clamping rods, each of said rods received in one of said upwardly concave portions and extending the length thereof, means provided and operative at any point along the length of said ridge rail top for clamping said rods into said upwardly concave portions, two superimposed plastic sheets secured along their top margin between one of the upwardly concave portions of the ridge rail and the complementary rod, means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure, the central portion of said superimposed plastic sheets being inflated to thereby space them apart said ridge rail being secured to the tops of the rafter members by at least one bolt passing through a longitudinally extending slot in the bottom surface of said ridge rail, the head of the bolt engaging the bottom surface of the ridge rail, said bolt being secured to the rafter members.

Claim 17

A plastic covered building structure comprising a plurality of rafter members positioned in spaced apart relationship, a ridge rail secured to the tops of said rafter members and extending the length of the building structure, said ridge rail having top, bottom, and side surfaces, two upwardly concave portions integral with and oppositely disposed on either side of said ridge rail, two clamping rods, each of said rods received in one of said upwardly concave portions and extending the length thereof, means provided and operative at any point along the length of said ridge rail top for clamping said rods into said upwardly concave portions, two superimposed plastic sheets secured along their top margin between one of the upwardly concave portions of the ridge rail and the complementary rod, means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure, the central portion of said superimposed plastic sheets being inflated to thereby space them apart said ridge rail being secured to the tops of the rafter members by at least one bolt passing through a longitudinally extending slot in the bottom surface of said ridge rail, the head of the bolt engaging the bottom surface of the ridge rail, said bolt being secured to the rafter members.

Claim 18

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 15 wherein the upwardly concave portions of the ridge rail are formed in flanges protruding from the side surfaces of said ridge rail.

Claim 19

The plastic covered building structure as defined in claim 16 wherein said ridge rail is extruded.

Claim 20

A plastic covered building structure comprising a plurality of rafter members positioned in spaced apart relationship, a ridge rail secured to the tops of said rafter members and extending the length of the building structure, an upwardly concave portion integral with said ridge rail, a clamping rod received in said upwardly concave portion and extending the length thereof, means provided and operative at any point along the length of said ridge rail top for clamping said rod into said upwardly concave portion, two superimposed plastic sheets secured along their top margin between said upwardly concave portion of said ridge rail and said clamping rod, means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure the central portion of said superimposed plastic sheets being inflated to thereby space them apart.

Claim 21

A plastic covered building structure comprising a plurality of rafter members positioned in spaced apart relationship, a ridge rail secured to the tops of said rafter members and extending the length of the building structure, an upwardly concave portion integral with said ridge rail, a clamping rod received in said upwardly concave portion and extending the length thereof, means provided and operative at any point along the length of said ridge rail top for clamping said rod into said upwardly concave portion, two superimposed plastic sheets secured along their top margin between said upwardly concave portion of said ridge rail and said clamping rod, means for securing the lower margin of the superimposed plastic sheets to each other and to the structure the central portion of said superimposed plastic sheets being inflated to thereby space them apart.