US1724269A - Strip shingle - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l D. FINLEY Aug. 13, 1929.

F-llnL Patented Aug. l 13, 1929.

UNlTED (STATES 1,724,269 PATENT OFFICE..

DOZIER FINLEY, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T THE ARAFFINE COM- PANIES, INC., OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

STRIP SHINGLE.

Application led October 4, 1924. Serial No. 741,667.

My invention relates to shingle-simulating roofing elements, land one of the objects of the invention is the provision of a roofing `element all of the units of which are identi- .5 cal in shape and which may be cut substantially without waste from the parent sheet.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a roofing element, the units of which can be laid together to simulate shingles and with a minimum of eii'ort.

Another object of the invention'is the provision of a rooting element adapted to be cut from a parent sheet and which will cover .more surface when laid than is occupied 1n the parent sheet.

Other objects of the invention together with the foregoing will be set forth in the following description of the preferred embodiment of means which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. l

It is to be understood that I do not linut myself to the showing made by the said description and drawings as I may .adopt variations of my preferred form within the scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a plan view of a strip of roofing material cut into roofing elements. The transverse dash and dotline 2 2 marks the progress of the cutting operation, that p ortion of the strip to the left of the line having beencompletely cut or formed into roofing elements and that portion to the right of the line remaining to be cut. In this latter ortion the lines of severance are indicated indotted lines. The arrow 3 indicates the direction of movement of the strip thru the cutting mechanism.

Figure 2 is a plan view, on asomewhat larger scale than Figure 1, of one of the roofing elements. All of these elements cut from the parent sheet are exactly alike.

Figure 3 is a plan view o f two roofing elements or unit-s as laid together in the same course. The dotted lines indicate the lunits of the next lower course.

Figure 4 isa plan view of a portion of roof covered with my rooting element.

1F igure 5 is a detail on a larger scale showing that portion of the transverse cut between two elements enclosed in dotted lines in Figure 1.

The material from which I preferably form the roofing element of my invention consists of a felt-lilre base which is saturated lwith a bituminous saturant of semi-solid character at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, and which is coated on one or both sides with a harder bituminous compound, into which, on one side, are embedded granules of crushed slate, serpentine or like material of a size approximating that of a grain of wheat, in other words the so-called slate surfaced roofing of commerce. At the present time I prefer to cut my roofing elements on a machine such as that illustrated in the Rosener application, Serial No. 627,- 496 filed March 24th, 1924, and which is characterized by the fact that the severing cuts are advanced along the sheet or strip of roofing in a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the strip, so that as the strip advances thru the cutting machine there is always a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of thel strip which separates the strip which has been cut from the strip which is about to be cut. Such a line is that designated by the reference characters 2 2 in Figure 1. y

In order to make the rooting element of my invention and the method of its cutting clear, it will be first discussed with reference to that portion of Figure l lying to the left of the line 2 2, that is, with reference to a parent strip of roofing which has been severed into the individual units or roofing elements, or shingle strips, but with said elements still lying together in what will be referred to in this description as the cutting position to differentiate from the laying position which the elements will oc cupy when laid in a roof.

In the cutting of the rooting elements the parent strip is divided by three longitudinally extending parallel cuts 12, 13 and 14 into four narrower strips which are divided by the transversely extending cuts designated as a. whole in Figure 1 by the reference characters 16 and 17, into alternately occurring groups of four individual units or roofing elements, the first group composed of units 18, 19, 21 and 21 and the second group composed of units 22, 23, 24 and 25.

When the rooting elements or units are laid in a roof, it is desiredif the unit be a long one such as that shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2, to Aform the exposed portion of the unit with slots so as to provide in each lli) unit, shingle-simulating tabs, the slots apgearing to be, in the laid roof, the spaces etween the individual shingles. These slotsfare cut in the elements at the same time the elements are separated from the parent sheet, thus in the units 18 and 19, slots 27, 28 and 29 aie formed, half in each unit. These slots mayall be of the same width or they may vary somewhat in width for the sake of destroying the tendency to geometrical regularity in the laid root. f'hile this factor is of little importance structurally, it is of very real importance artistically and commercially. In a similar manner slots 31, 32 and 33 are cut in the two elements 20 and 21; and slots 34, 35 and 3G, in the elements 23 and 24 of the next group, are formed in the saine manner. In this group however the outside elements 22 and 25 are formed with slots 3T, 38 and 39, and 41, 42 and 43 respectively in their vouter edges.

While at irst glance the severing cuts 16 and 17 appear to be of different character and the units of the two groups appear to be ot different shapes, such units are, in tact, identical in shape, that is to say, they are congruent `figures in plan. This congruency at once becomes ob-vious if each of the elements 19 and 22 for example. is reversed about an axis perpendicular thereto, when it will be observed that they may each be superposed upon the element. 18 with complete coincidence of outline. It will also bel observed that each unit in cutting position, that is, as illustrated' in Figure 1, is completely complementary to the next succeeding unit at either end from which it is separated by a single severing cut; and it is to be further observed that whether we regard the severing cut at` one end of the unit, or the cut at the other end of the unit, each is defined by a line in reverse symmetry about a point between the longitudinal edges of the elements, and in the pattern illustrated in Figure 1, lying on the broken lines defining the cuts. As a result of this reverse symmetry, the edges, which are completely complementary in the cutting position, form homologous sides in the several units which exactly coincide when one unit is superposed upon another in laying position, that is, in the position of the units 18, 20, 23 .and `25 of Figure 1, or' of the unit sho-Wn in Figure 2.

Considering nowr the separate unit or roofing element shown in Figure 2; the right hand edge is defined by a broken line best shown in Figure 5, and comprising the portions 46, 47, 43, 49 and 51 and this line -is in reversed symmetry about a point 52 in the center of the portion 48. Considering now the left hand transverse edge; it is Jfound to be defined by a broken line best shown in Figure 5, and comprising the poiL llaid.

tions 53, 54, 55, 5G, 57, 58 and 59 which are in reversed symmetry about the point (l1 which lies midway in the portion 5G.

In each of the transverse edges of the roofing element a projection is formed. If the line portion 51, Figure 5, be taken as the base, there is formed a projection G2, bctween the lines 48 and 49, and a projection 63, bounded on the outer edge by the line 46. On the opposite end, regarding the line portion 49 as a base, a projection G4 is formed between the lines 56, 57 and 58, and also a projection G6 bounded on the outer edge by the line 53. IVlien the rooting elements are placed end to end in their laying position in a course, projections 63 and. 6b abut, and also projections 62 and G4, as shown in Figure 3. These edges also are complementary in their laying position, to the extent that actual contact takes place.

Because oic the abutting projections on the adjacent ends of the elements, the edges 51 and 59 ai'e spaced apart a distance preferably equal to one of the slots such as the slot 29,. so that in the laid roof the slot (i7 thus formed between adjacent elements in the same course, aie not distinguishable from the other slots formed in the edge of each element. rThe lower pair of abutting projections 62 and G4, close the upper end of the slot G7 so that rain driving into the slot is retarded from further progress. Some water however may be driven thru the crack between the abutting projections no matter how tightly the shingle elements may be Of course too, capillary action will draw moisture thru this crack, but the ca iillary attraction is destroyed by the opening or gap G8, formed by the union of the recesses between the projections, and such moisture drains backwardly under the edges of the adjacentI shingles into the slot 67 or out from under the lower edge of the adjacent shingle tabs.

The extent of exposure to the weather of such a rooting element as I have illustrated .in Figure 2 is normally determined by and made equal to the length of the slots 27, 28, and 29, the length being the distance measured inwardly from the lower edge ot the element. It is evident that in laying any number of such elements shingle-fashion, the overlap of the irst and third elements, counting up or down the slope of the roof, will be the Width of an element minus the sum of the lengths of two slots. It then, the length of the slot G7 in Figure 3 is equal to the length of the slots 28, 29, 39 and 38, the line 47-54, Figure 3, which bounds the upper portion of the gap or recess (i8 will fall in coincidence with the upper edge of the rooting element lying next below. However in practice I prefer to make the slot 67 longer than. the slots 23, 29, 39 and 38 by an appreciable amount, whereby the iao matinee line -l7-5l is brought nearer to the longitudinal axis 7l of the rooling element 4by an exactly equal amount, and thereby a certain amount of rooting material above the line l754 is brought into overlapping relation to the uppermost part of the rooting element lying next underneath, as shown in Figure 8. By this means the waterproolness or tightness ot the assembly at 'the end juno tion of the roofing elements is notably 1mproved. ln practice l lind that making the slot 67 one quarter-of an inch longer than lthe adjoining slots, will satisfactorily accomplish the purpose just described.

lt should be noted in passing that the right hand end of the rooting shingle shown in Figure 2 may be defined by a llne, thc portions 5l and 46 of which lie in the same straight line, in which Vcase the projection 63 is reduced to zero value. Such a change would of course be compensated by a corresponding increase in the length of the projection 66. The quality of reversed symmetry about the points` 52 and 6l is however not altected.

lt is evident that the roofing unit, as shown in Figure 2, is longer on the top edge 72 than on the bot-tom edge 7 3. In the manner in which the roofing elements are cut from the sheet as illustrated in Figure l, an average linear amount of material is required per element, equal to the sum of the lengths of the top and bottom edges divided by two. ln all other methods of cutting identical roofing elementsbf which l am aware, the linear amount ol" material required is equivaient to the length of the longer edge. In other Words the method of cutting which I have set forth in the foregoing description results in a saving, per element, of an amount of the parent sheet or strip represented by 'one-hall the difference between the length ol the top and bottom edges, multiplied by the width of the element itself. As these elements are 34% inches long on the edge 'i' 2 and 33% inches long on the edge 73, and g inches wide, it is evident thatd for yeach element, 21/2 square inches are saved from waste by my method of cutting. This amounts' to about $6 of 1%, which in the large volume of such roofing elements manufactured and sold, is no insignificant amount.

A further advantage will be found in these roongelements when the question of placing and securing them on the roof isy considered. In laying such roofing elements the vvorhi'nan usually works from leftk to right. Referring to Figure 3,'after the fastening ol element 18 by the nails 76,V the element 22 would be placed and secured. This is done by lirst placing the shingle strip in 'the position shown and then gaugingv the right hand end by means of a shinglers gauge affixed to the nailing hatcliet, or it is gauged by positioning the lower edge ot the element with relation to the top of the slots in vthe element lying immediately below. rFhe outer end is then secured in place by a single nail, the workman being assured while fastening the right hand end that the left end has been held in place by the interlocking of the projections 64 and 62. lf it'were not for the interlocking relationship of these projections, the element 22 would tend at this time to slip downroot at'its left end, requiring the use of the hand to hold that end in place or approximately in place while at the same time securing the opposite or right end. Alter the first nail is driven into the right hand end, the other nails areI driven and the next shingle in the course laid and secured in the same manner.

Another advantage of my method of cutting, lies in the fact that the area covered by the two elements 18 and 22 in the cutting position as shown in Figure l is less than the area covered by these same two elements in the laying position as illustrated in Figure 3, and this increase in coveringacapacity of the elements in a given course, over the actual area of the elements in the course, amounts per element to the same area as that already described as saved during the cutting, that is about 21/2 square inches.

Still another advantage of my rooting element resides in the relative tightness of the joints between the adjacent shingles in a course. lroportioned and laid as indicated in Figure 3, leakage thru the joints is elfectually prevented. Such insignificant quanti-ty of Water as may be driven by high Wind thru the joint at the top of the slot 67 goes no farther than the recess 68, and readily finds its way out again Without leal;- ing thru the underlying course.

lt Will of course be understood that While the rooting element or shingle which I have herein described, has a plurality of exposed shingle-tabs separated by slots, it is not conlined solely to such multiple-tab form of element. Rooling elements comprising a single exposed tab to each element may advantageously be made by my method.

-The term unlike, used in the claims lto define the transverse edges, is meant to include the condition'in which lines defining the transverse`edges are unlike and cannot be superimposed upon each other.

l claim:

l. A rooting element comprising a strip of material having each transverse edge deined by" a broken `line in reverse symmetry about a point betweenv the s longitudinal edges, said transverse edges being unlike.

2. A rooting element 'comprising a strip of' material having each transverse edge deined by a broken line in reverse symmetry about a point between the longitudinal edges, said transverse edges being unlike but complementary in part. v

3. A roofing element. comprising a strip of' material having each transverse edge defined by a broken line in reverse symmetry about a point -on that edge, saidy transverse edges bein unlike'but in part complementary where y one transverse edge of one element is adapted to interlock with the opposite transverse edge of the 'adjoining element when laid.

4. A rooting element adapted to be laid with other likel elements in overlapping courses, and having each transverse edge defined by a broken line such that in laying position the homologous transverse edges of two adjacent elements are identical and the non-homologous transverse edges may be interlocked, the transverse edges of each element being unlike.

5. A roofin element adapted to be laid Vwith other like elements in overlapping courses, and having on one transverse edge a projection and on the opposite transverse edge having a narrow projection adapted to engage the said first mentioned projection of the adjoining element in the course and having a wide projection adapted to abut against thel edge of the said'adjoining element to j. space the two elements in the course.

6. A roofing element adapted to be laid with other like elements 1n overlapping courses, and having on one transverse edge a projection and on the opposite transverse edge having a wide projection adapted to abut against the edge of the adjoining element in the course to space it from the adjoining element whereby a slot isA formed therebetween, and a narrow projection spacedl from the wide projection and adapted to engage said first mentioned projection of said adjoining element and therewith close the inner end of said slot.

7. A roofing element adapted to be laid with other llke elements in overlapping courses, and having on one transverse edge a projection and on the opposite transverse edge having a wide projection adapted to abut against the edge of the adjoining ele- I nent in the course to space it from the adjoining element whereby a slot is formed therebetween, and a narrow projection spaced from the wide projection on the same edge and adapted to interlock with said first mentioned projection of said adjoining element and therewith close the inner end of said slot.

8. A roofing element adapted to be laid with other like elements in overlapping courses, and having on one transverse edge a projection and 011 the opposite transverse edge having a wide projection adapted to .abut against the edge of the adjoining element in the course to space it from the adjoining element whereby a slot is formed therebetween, spaced from the wide projection and adapted to engage said first mentioned projection of said adjoining element and therewith close the inner end of said sl'ot,said element having a plurality of slots in its exposed edge similar to the slot formed between adjacent elements.

9. A roofing element comprising a strip of material having each transverse edge defined by a broken line in reverse symmetry about a point on that edge, said transverse edges being unlike but in part complementary whereby one transverse edge of one element is adapted to interlock with the opposite transverse edge of the adjoining element when laid, and whereby a slot is formed between the adjoining elements.

10. A roofing element comprising a strip of material vhaving each transverse edge defined by a broken line in reverse symmetry about a point between the longitudinal edges, said transverse edges being unlike,

and one longitudinal edge being longer than the other longitudinal edge.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set by hand.

DOZIER FINLEY.

and a narrow projectionl

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