GB2214205A - Clips for peg mounting tiles - Google Patents

Abstract

A clip for mounting peg tiles, that is tiles with a hole therethrough, to horizontal battens 26 of a roof, in which a nail or pin 28 is passed through the hole, and the clip 10 engages the head of the nail to maintain the nail in position and engages behind the horizontal batten and a slotted portion (21 Fig 1) is arranged to maintain the shank of the nail generally upright with respect to the tile. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING TILES TO A ROOF The present invention relates to an apparatus for mounting tiles to a roof.

Sloping roofs are generally covered with a layer of tiles which may be of fired clay, concrete, plastic, or wood. The most common material is fired clay or concrete and modern tiles will normally include, on their back surfaces, so called "nibs" which are ribs extending from the surface and which are used to hook over horizontal battens mounted on the roof. The tiles overlap and, for a particular tile, the upper part of the tile is maintained in contact with the battens by means of the overlapping lower edge of the tile above.

However, in older forms of roof construction, the tiles do not include nibs. Instead, the tiles include, adjacent their top edge, a hole therethrough. These tiles are called peg tiles, because a wooden peg was wedged into the hole and extended from the rear surface of the tile, and the wooden peg was used to hook over a horizontal batten. This construction allows somewhat more movement of the tiles which in some cases can be an advantage.

Sometimes, in replacing such nib tiles, in place of a wooden peg, the tile is simply nailed to the batten behind by means of a nail passing through the hole.

Such an arrangement is inconvenient, particularly when maintenance of the roof is required, as it is difficult to remove the nails and tiles.

Frequently, therefore, in some forms of construction a nail is simply inserted through the hole, and the part of the nail protruding from the rear surface of the tile is simply allowed to slip over the batten to mount the tile. However, this method is very insecure.

We have provided a clip which can be used to more securely mount peg tiles to horizontal battens on a roof.

A particular problem arises in mounting such peg tiles onto the roof of an oast house, in which the pitch of the roof is very much steeper than that on conventional roofs and also, the roof is conical so that there is less sideways support from tile to tile.

A clip incorporating one arrangement of the invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clip providing a preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 is a front view of a tile to which the clip may be attached, Figure 3 is a section through the tile and clip when engaged with one another, Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but showing the tile mounted on a root, Figure 5 is a side view of the clip of Figure 10, and Figure 6 is an under plan view of the clip of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided a clip 10 of folded stainless steel, the clip being generally fork shaped, having a flat upper leg 11, and a curved lower leg 12, the upper and lower legs li,12, being connected at the closed end 13 by end member 14. The material of the clip is sprung steel, so that it is resilient and if the legs 11,12, are displaced away from or towards one another, then they will return to the position shown in Figure 1.

The flat upper leg 11 includes downwardly turned corners 16 at the open end 17 of the clip.

The curved lower leg 12 includes a first curved portion 18 extending from the end member 14, the curved portion 18 extending generally towards the flat upper leg 11, and, outwardly of the curved portion 18, a second, downwardly curved portion 19 which extends away from the upper leg 11. The lower leg 12 includes a central slot 21 which extends from the open end 17 towards the closed end 13 of the clip, the slot 21 having an inner end 22.

The exact shape of the clip is shown in Figures 5 and 6.

Figure 2 shows a tile 23 of a type which is used on the roof of an oast house. Oast houses are buildings with steep conical roofs used for drying hops in the brewing industry. Although the clip has been designed with this use in mind, it is applicable to the use of similar tiles in conventional roofs.

The tile 23 does not include a nib on its rear surface, but a hole 24 towards its top end. In conventional use, a wooden peg is wedged in the hole 24. The peg protrudes from the rear surface of the tile 23 and the tile is then hung on a horizontal batten 26 (see Figure 4). The battens 26 are spaced from the roof by uprightly extending battens 27 shown in broken lines in Figure 4.

In general terms, the weight of overlapping tiles maintains the tiles in position, but clearly they are simply hanging in position and particularly with the more vertical nature of an oast house roof, the tiles are liable to be blown off in the wind. When the oast house is in use, however, this loose nature of mounting the tiles is preferred because it is desirable to let air pass through the tiles. However, many oast houses are being converted for other uses and under these circumstances the roof is to be made properly watertight and it is no longer necessary to allow air to go through the tiles and a more secure fixing would be desirable.

In practice in many instances, in place of the wooden pegs which are of course time consuming to fix, modern tilers simply pass a thick nail through the hole 24, and such a nail is shown in Figure 4 at 28. Hitherto, this nail has been nailed through the batten 26 or simply hooked over the batten.

The present clip performs two functions. Firstly, it allows a nail or pin 28 to be securely mounted in the hole 24 of the tile 23 and also allows for more secure fixing of the tile 23 to the batten 26.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be seen that a nail 28 is passed through the hole 24 in the tile 23 in the generally conventional way and the clip 10 is then slid from the upper edge of the tile 23 so that the upper leg 11 overlies the top of the nail 28. The lower leg 12 engages under the tile (the downwardly curved portion 19 enables easy engagement of the clip over the edge of the tile 23), and the slot 21 allows the nail 28 to protrude therethrough. When properly engaged, the arrangement is as shown in Figure 3.

In Figure 4, the tile has been mounted on the batten 26 and as can be seen, the lower leg 12 is engaged around the back face of the batten 26 (again the curved portion 19 providing easy engagement of the lower leg 12 with the batten 26) and is slipped down until the nail 28 rests on the top of the batten 26 which thereby prevents further movement downwards.

In use, the clip 10 is covered by the overlapping portion of the tile above, so that it is not seen.

Nevertheless, the tile is now securely mounted to the batten 26 and yet at the same time can be readily removed for repairs if necessary.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing example. For example, differences in shape for the clip can be envisaged.

Claims (9)

1. Apparatus for mounting tiles on a roof which includes horizontal support members, said tiles having holes through which a headed pin or nail in use is passed, said apparatus including first means to restrict movement of the head of the nail away from an upper surface of the tile, and second means to maintain the shank of the nail in a generally upright position with respect to an under-surface of the tile.

2. Apparatus As claimed in claim 1, in which the first and second means comprise first and second legs connected by a spring portion urging the two legs towards one another.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claims 1 or 2 in which the first means comprises a generally flat plate.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the second means comprises a slotted plate, the slot in the plate, in use, extending to a position adjacent the shank of the nail.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 in which the first means includes downwardly turned corner members to engage the upper surface of the tile.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in which the second means is adapted so as in use to be engageable behind a horizontal support member of the roof.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 in which the apparatus comprises a single piece of material.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 in which the apparatus is folded from stainless steel.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.