US1314477A - Btjry - Google Patents

Description

F. C. OVERBURY.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING PREPARED ROOFI'NG ELEMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.2s. |911.

'1 ,3 14,477 Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK C. OVERBURY, 0F HILLSDALE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FLINTKOTE COMPANY, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING PREPARED ROOFING ELEMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Application led December 28, 1917. Serial No. 209,229.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK C. OVER- BURY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Hillsdale, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Methods and Means for Making Prepared Roofing Elements, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to the manufacture of prepared roofing in the form of shingle strips, `so-called, which consist of slabs or strips having spaced tabs or projections, which are exposed when the strips are laid in overlapping rows, and present the appearance of shingles, tiles or slates. Such prepared roofing consists of a foundation sheet of fibrous material, usually rag felt, which is porous and absorbent, and which is saturated or impregnated with a relatively lovvr melting-point asphalt or other hydrocarbon to make the sheet waterproof, and coated with a layer of a relatively high-melting-point pitch or asphalt, in which is artially embedded a surfacing material suoli as crushed tile, slate, granite, or other form of grit to give the roofing an ornamental appearance in addition to increasing its capacity to withstand the action of the elements and increasing its {ireproof and acidproof qualities.

Heretofore it has been the practice first to produce a sheet of roofing such as described, and then to form it into shingle strips by means of cutting machines by which transverse slots are cut in the sheet, and the sheet is slit longitudinally as described in my Patent No. 908,125 or by which the sheet is severed transversely into shingle strips as described in my Patent No. 1,182,416. While such a method of producing shingle-strips has been commercially successful, yet certain difliculties have Lpresented themselves which militate against an economical and rapid production of the strips.

Saturated, coated and mineral-faced roofbecause the grit wears out the knives ve rapidly, especially those which are emplbyed for cutting the slots in the sheet, and because of the character of the4 saturating and coating compounds, they tend to clog the dies or cutters especially when mixed with the grit. Moreover the waste pieces, which are cut from the sheet in forming the slots therein, cannot easily be utilized because of the embedment therein of the crushed mineral or grit.

The present invention has for its object to remedy and overcome the faults and difficulties which have heretofore inured to the method of manufacture hereinbefore briefly described. This is accomplished, briefly speaking, by forming the slots in the sheet before it is coated and surfaced, and then after the sheet has been coated and surfaced cutting it into strips. In this way, the slotting is accomplished Without permitting the knives to come into contact-with the grit, and the Waste pieces may be treated to reclaim the saturating compounds and the felt without having any grit admixed therewith. A further beneficial result is secured in that the coating covers the cut edges or walls of the slots and increases to some extent the thickness thereof, and enables the walls of the slots to be surfaced with the grit, whereby the exposed portions of the strip appear to be relatively thicker and more massive.

On the accompanying drawing,-

Figure 1 represents, conventionally, apparatus for the practice of 'my invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates the sheet during the course of its manufacture into shingle strips.

Fig. 3 represents a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 on a larger scale.

S0 far as the details of manufacture are concerned, it is quite immaterial whether the resultant shingle strips are cut cross- Wise of the sheet, as illustrated in my Patent No. 1,150,298, dated August 17, 1915, or whether they are cut lengthwise of the sheet as shown in my said Patent No. 908,125. In either case, the slotting .is accomplished before the coating compound and the surfacing grit are applied to the sheet. On the drawing I have shown the lnstrumentalities for forming the cross-cut shingle strips, but I donot thereby intend to exclude the use of instrumentalities for forming the length-cut strips.

The sheet of felt or other equivalent porous, absorbent, fibrous material is shown as being drawn from a roll 10, whence it is passed through-the saturation vat 11 in whlch s contained molten low-melting Patentednug. 26, 1919.

point asphalt or otherl suitable hydrocarbon compound, kept in liquid condition by any p means such as steam coilsV j 12. After passing through the squeeze rolls suitable heatin 13, by which all of the excess saturating compounds is removed from the sheet, leaving it comparatively dry, the sheet is passed around drums 14 which are supplied with a cooling or refrigerating medium for chilling the sheet and setting the compound.' Preferably the sheet is chilled to a temperature at which the saturating compound is relatively hard. From the chilling rolls the sheet is now conducted to a slotting machineindcated as a whole at 15, and which comprises feed rolls '16, and slotting rolls 17, 18. This machine maybe with convenience constructed substantially as shown and described in the `patent to Gerry G. Gardner, No. 1,191,297, dated July 18, 1916, to permit the escape of the waste pieces (formed by the dies in cutting the slots) from the lower roll, in which event it will be also provided with knives for slitting the sheet lengthwise through the slots. As shown, however, the' roll 17 has a plurality e of dies or cutters for coperation with recesses in the roll 18 to cut a transverse row of longitudinal slots in the sheet at intervals along the length thereof, and the waste pieces delivered from the lower roll are delivered by a chute 19 to a basket or receptacle y20. In Fig. 2 the raw felt sheet is indicated at a, and the saturated portion is indicated at b. The longitudinal slots therein, are indicated at c. The number of the slots will vary in accordance with the width of the sheet, and the length and width and spacing of the tabs or projections on the finished shingle strip. For example, the slots intermediate the edges of the sheet may be one-half inch in width and nine inches in length and spaced laterally apart six' inches, and the slots in the edges may' be one-quarter inch. Of course these proportions -are varied according to circumstances, and the slots are spaced longitudinally of the sheet according to the desired width of the several shingle strips.

After lleaving 'the slotting machine, the saturated and slotted .sheet is now coated with a weatherproof compound of highmelting-point pitch or asphalt by passing it between carefully .adjusted rolls 21, 22, which preferably are steam-heated. The molten pitch or asphalt is delivered upon the sheet by a spout 23 at a point close to the nip of the rolls, the sheet passing over a stationary table or plate 124 to preventl the -pitch from pouring through the slots. Any pitch or asphalt which escapes through the slots in the lower roll as the sheet is fed through' the rolls may be scraped therefrom by a scraper 24 and delivered to a tank 25 for re-use. The scraper 2'4 and the tank 25 may both be steamheated, if desired. In Fig. 2, the coated' portion of the sheet is indicated at d.

While the coating is in a plastic condition, the sheet isy passed beneath a hopper 26 containing crushed or flaked slate, tlle,

brick, granite, or other mineral, and a` thin stream` of the grit is deposited upon the coating. The l grit which fallsthrough the slots is deiiected by a chute 27 into a re? ceptacle 28 for re-use. The sheet is now carried over a roll 29 and under rolls 30,-

pressure rolls `33, 33. After the grit has been` embedded in theplastic coating, it is desirable that the sheet should be cooled to permit the coating to harden and set before it is severed into shin le strips. Any suitable cooling means may employed for this purpose, but I have illustrated conventionally at 34 a festooning mechanism for this purpose. From this mechanism the sheet is delivered to the strip-cutting maf chine which is provided with feed rolls 35, and Acutters comprising a stationary shear blade 36 and an associated chopping blade 37. The chopper 37 is rotated at such a rate of speed in relation to the speed of travel of the sheet, that the sheet is severed on straight transverselines e--e and f-f, the cut e-e being midway between the ends of each row of slots, and the cut f--f being midway between two adjacent rows of slots. As a result of the slotting and the transverse severance of the end of the sheet, there are rapidly produced dupli'te shingle strips,

each having one straight longitudinal edge, and on the other edge a plurality of spaced tabs or projections, which, when lthe strips are laid in overlapping relation on a roof, present the appearance of shingles or tiles. In Fig. 3 I have shown on a larger scale a section through 'one of lthe shingle strips By the practice of the process as herein described, I am able to effect a saving in the coating compound and the grit in the production of the roofing. I make it possible to reclaim the saturating compound in' sheet, but I refer thereto once more to point v out that the particular arrangement of the slots is immaterial so long asthey are so formed that, when the sheet 1s eventually severed, each shingle strip has a plurality of spaced tabs or projections.

What I claim is: 1. A method of making shlngle strips,

I which consists in saturating a sheet of felt lals with a hydrocarbon compound, then forming slots in said saturated sheet, then applying the plastic coating upon the slotted sheet, and severing said sheet in lines transverse tothe slots to form shingle strips.

2. A method of making shingle strips, which consists in saturating a sheet of felt with a hydrocarbon compound, forming slots in the saturated sheet, applying a plastic coating to said slotted sheet, applying a layer of grit to the coated sheet, and severing the sheet into shingle strips of predetermined lengths and widths, each having a plurality of tabs or projections.

3. A method of making shingle strips, which consists in forming transverse rows of longitudinal slots in said sheet, coating the slotted sheet with an asphaltic plastic compound, embedding grit in the asphaltic coating,. and severing the sheet transversely of the slots into shingle strips of predetermined length and width.

4. In combination, the following instrumentalities, to Wit: means for saturating a sheet of felt with a water-proofing compound, means for forming slots in said saturated sheet, means for applying a plastic coating on said slotted sheet, and means for severing said sheet in lines transverse to said slots to form shingle strips.

5. In combination, the following instrumentalities, to wit: means for saturating a. sheet of felt with a water-proofing compound, means for forming slots in said saturated sheet, means for applying a plastic coating on said slotted sheet, meansl for applying a layer of grit to the coating on said sheet, and means for severing said sheet in lines transverse to said slots to form shingle strips each having a plurality of tabs or projections.

6. In combination, the following instrumentalities, to wit: means for successively forming transverse rows of longitudinal slots in a sheet of roofing material, means for coating said slotted sheet with a plastic asphaltic compound, means for applying a layer of grit to said coated sheet, and means for severing said sheets transversely of said slots into shingle strips of predetermined length and width.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

FREDERICK o. ovERBURY.

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