US3073364A

US3073364A - Grading shingle cutter guide device

Info

Publication number: US3073364A
Application number: US86942A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jones Alex
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1961-02-03
Filing date: 1961-02-03
Publication date: 1963-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-15

Description

Jan. 15, 1963 A. JONES 3,073,364

GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Filed Feb. 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. .7 kxJawas Jan. 15, 1963 A. JONES 3,073,364

GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Filed Feb. 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent Qftice 3,973,354 Patented Jan. 15, 193

3,073,364 GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE Alex Jones, R0. Box 84, Keller, Tex. Filed Feb. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 86,942 Claims. (Cl. 144-216) This invention relates to a cutter for composition-type shingles and more particularly to a device for cutting simultaneously a plurality of shingles, properly graded in length, for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes.

In cutting roofing shingles of the composition type for the junctures between roofing planes to form valleys and hips, it is necessary to cut shingles on an angle and to locate the points of severance such that the shingle at the valley or hip will properly mate with the adjacent shingle in the same course and define a straight line along the juncture. It is desirable to maintain alignment of the joints between shingles on alternate or other spaced courses in order to present a more pleasing appearance.

It has been the practice in the past to start a given course A of shingles at one of the caves and work towards a hip or valley. When the juncture is reached, each shingle is measured individually and cut to provide the shingle which will border the juncture. Applicant has found that a substantial saving in time and an improvement in the appearance of a roof can be achieved by utilization of a cutting device which will permit the simultaneous cutting of a plurality of shingles in a manner that the shingles will be graded properly in length to terminate a plurality of courses at the juncture between two roofing planes.

More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a cutter for shingles for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes which includes a planar support having a linear stop mounted on the support for alignment of horizontal shingle edges. A cutting guide is provided which extends across the support at the angle of the juncture between two roofing planes from a point of intersection with the linear stop. A grading member is mounted on the support parallel to but spaced from the linear stop and is provided with a plurality of shingle margin arresting elements or stops. The shingle margin stops are spaced uniformly along the member at distances equal to the stepouts of the juncture across the exposure of each course, whereby shingles in number equal to the number of arresting elements may be placed on the support abutting the linear stop with one shingle edge against each of the margin arresting elements. A out along the cutting guide will provide juncture shingles for adjacent courses of shingles properly graded in length so that the vertical joints between the shingles may be properly aligned.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and for further objects and advantages thereof, reference may now be had to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGUREI is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the unit of FIGURE 1 but with the cutting guide in a different position;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the unit of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 illustrates a grading stop element for shingles of a first size;

FIGURE 5 illustrates a grading stop element for shingles of a second size;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIGURE 1, but with the larger size grading stop;

FIGURE 7 illustrates a series of graded shingles (exposed portions only);

FIGURE 8 illustrates a roof pattern;

FIGURE 9 illustrates use of the cutter guide device for forming shingle 73 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 illustrates the three cuts that may be required on a given shingle.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated one embodiment of the invention in which a planar support structure 10 is conveniently formed from a sheet of plywood or other suitable material. A pair of marginal linear Stops 11 and 12 extend along the lower edge of the support 10 on opposite sides thereof. As best illustrated in FIGURE 2, the edge 13 of the support 10 is at right angles With respect to the stops 11 and 12. The edge 14 is cut at a 45 angle relative to edge 13. While the support 10 might also be made square or rectangular, the illustrated triangular form has been found convenient in use as will hereinafter appear.

A pair of

spacer elements

17 and 18 are provided at the upper edge 16 of the support 10. A cutting guide element 20 is adapted to be mounted on either side of the support 10. As illustrated, it is secured on the upper side under

thumb nuts

21 and 22. The cutting guide element 29 is slotted near the ends thereof to permit alignment at the angle fixed by the positions of the

thumb nuts

21 and 22 and their associated bolts extending through the stops 11 and 12. The cutting guide element 20 having slot 23 therein is adapted to be rotated, when desired, about the location of nut 21 to be secured under thumb nut 24 at right angles relative to stops 11, 12.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, the support structure 10 has a slot 25 extending from the edge 13 toward the sloping edge 14 at a distance x which preferably is greater than the exposure of a given course of shingles. A hole or holes 26 are also provided in alignment with the slot 25. Slot 25 and holes 25 are centered along a line which is parallel to the edge of the linear stops 11 and 12.

As illustrated in FIGURE 1, a shingle grading element 30 is mounted on the upper face of the support structure 10 as by a pair of screws 31 and 32. Screw 31 fits in the slot 25 and screw 32 passes through a hole 26. Suitable thumb nuts on the lower side of the support 10 are provided for anchoring the element 31} in its desired position.

The grading element 30 is shown in greater detail in FIGURE 4 and comprises a hairpin-like rod structure of substantial length having four

stops

41, 42, 43 and 44 spaced therealong. In one embodiment of the form illustrated, the element was made of 4. iron rod with the spacing between the two arms 3th: and 3% A". The stops 41-44 were short lengths of like rod Welded into the space between the legs 30a and 3% at uniformly spaced points. The spacing y between adjacent elements 41-44 was made equal to the stepout of the roof valley across the exposed portion of a given course of shingles and was thus suitable for use in grading shingles to be cut for bordering the valley or hip disposed at roof angle with respect to the plane.

The support 10 is provided with a plurality of holes 22b-22c in which the bolt 22a may be positioned in order to provide shingles of the proper slope for a roof of any given pitch. The lower the pitch on a given roof, the smaller will be the angle included between the cutting guide element 20 and the linear stop 11, the lower limit being 45 The spacing between the stops 41-44 will be fixed for a given pitch and shingle exposure with one of said grading elements being required for each combination of pitch and exposure. The stops 41-44 and 51-55 are graduated in height, increasing in increments of a shingle thickness in the direction away from the cutter guide element 20. The curved end 300 of element 30 should also be considered as a stop. If desired, a slot could be provided instead of holes 22b 22c, thus 3 allowing continuous angle adjustment for the cutting guide element 29.

When the element 3% of FIGURE 4 is fastened onto the support It) of FIGURE 1, five shingles may be placed on the support with the butts of the shingles, i.e. the edges which are to lie horizontally on the roof, maintained in alignment against the linear stop 11. The shingles as they would be viewed in FIGURE 1 should be positioned with the left edge of each shingle adjacent one of the

stops

44, 43, 42, 41 and the edge of the fifth shingle against the end 36:: of the element 36. With the shingles thus arranged on the support It), they may be cut simultaneously or successively by drawing a knife or other suitable cutter along the edge of the cutting guide bar 29. The resultant shingles thus cut will be suitably and properly graded for bordering a valley on each of five successive courses of shingles. The joints in each of the shingle courses are aligned so that there will be maintained a desirable appearance in the roof pattern.

In FIGURE there is illustrated a second grading member 50 which has five

stops

51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 of the same nature or construction as the stops of FIG- URE 4. The stop of FIGURE 5 accommodates shingles of greater length and for greater exposure than those used with the stop of FIGURE 4. Suitable stops may be provide for accommodating any particular shingle pattern or dimension. In the forms illustrated, the element 39 of FIGURE 4 was designed for use with standard 20- inch composition shingles and provided for cutting a set of five shingles at one time. The unit 50, FIGURE 5, was provided for use with the 36-inch shingles. It made possible grading a set of six shingles at one time wtih one shingle adjacent each of the stops 51-55 and a sixth shingle adjacent the end 500.

The unit of FIGURE 5 is provided with an insert 58 welded into the space between the two arms of the unit 50 and extending downwardly in the direction opposite the elements 5l55. As illustrated in FIGURE 6, the leg 58 tends to maintain the rigidity desired in the grading element 50 as it extends beyond the edge of the support 10.

In use, and as illustrated in FIGURE 8, it the distance 2 from the edge 76 of the caves to the intersection of the valley line 7% with the cave is equal to a multiple of the shingle width, then the valley shingles will be cut to produce the shingles as illustrated in FIGURE 8 (only the exposed portions are shown) where the shingle 71 is the valley bordering shingle on the course 72; the shingle 73 is the valley bordering shingle on course 74; the shingle 75 is the valley bordering shingle on course 76; the shingle 77 is the valley bordering shingle on course 78; and the shingle 79 is the valley bordering shingle on course 80. For the next five courses, the foregoing sequence is merely repeated so that for this roof two identical sets of valley bordering shingles are required and they may be formed by placing two separate stacks of shingles on the support 10, each in turn being placed with the outer or exposure side down and with the lower ends of the shingles abutting the linear stop 11. The side of a first shingle will be butted against the end 300 of the grading member 30 as shown in FIGURE 9. The side of the second shingle will be placed against the stop 41; the side of the third shingle will be placed against the stop 42; the side of the fourth shingle will be placed against the stop 43; and the side of the fifth shingle will be placed against the stop 44. The shingles may then be out along the cutting guide element 263 to provide the five

shingles

73, 75, 77, 79 and 71 to border valley line 7011.

Thereafter, in order to provide the corresponding shingles for bordering the valley line 70b, the element 30 and the cutting guide bar 20 are secured on the opposite side of the support and two stacks of five shingles each are placed on the board as above described and are then cut to form the valley bordering shingles.

The

shingles

71, 73, '75, 77 and 79 of FIGURE 8 are also shown in FIGURE 7 (exposed portions only) and represent the series 90, i.e. shingles that would be employed when the distance z, FIGURE 8, is equal to a multiple of the shingle lengths. When the distance z is not a multiple of the shingle length, then a different set of shingles such as the

set

91, 92, or 93 might be required. The exposed lower margin of each shingle in the set 91 is one inch greater in length than the corresponding shingle in set and will be used when the length z is one inch greater than an integral multiple of the shingle lengths. In this case, the stop 3t) is merely moved one inch back away from the cutting guide bar to a new setting. If the distance 1 differs by two inches or three inches or any fractional portion, then sets such as 92 or "3 or intermediate sets may be cut by merely setting the grading stop element 36 accordingly. It is to be noted that the grading stop element 30 need be set only once for cutting shingles for a given border (i.e. line 70a) of a valley. The grading stop element is then placed on the other side of the support structure 10 and adjusted to the same longitudinal position for cutting the shingles for the other border (i.e. line 79b) of the valley. The cutting guide element 20 is, of course, also moved to the other side of the support It) and reset at the same angle.

For cutting shingles for valleys, cuts such as along line 85, FIGURE 10, are made with the shingles upside down on the support 10, FIGURE 1, and with the edges of the shingles against the grading stops as shown in FIGURE 9. When cutting shingles for bordering a hip, the shingle is positioned top down with the locking flap 38 resting against the linear stop 11.

It is to be understood that three different types of cuts may be necessary. Referring to FIGURE 10, the first is a cut which slopes along a line 35 equal to the slope of the juncture (valley border or hip line). The second is along the shingle vertical center line 87 to form half shingles such as employed at the eaves on

courses

74 and 78. A third is to remove the locking tab 88 by cutting along line 89. The system of the present invention is suited for making all three cuts accurately so that a pleasing finish is maintained with alignment along the valley borders,

lines

70a and 70b, FIGURE 8, or along a hip line.

Having described the invention in connection with one embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that further modifications may now suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and it is intended to cover such modifications as fa within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be used for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which device comprises a planar support, a linear stop mounted on said support for alignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cutting guide element extending across said support at the angle of said juncture from a point of intersection with said linear stop, a grading stop member mounted on said support parallel to but spaced from said linear stop and having a plurality of shingle stop elements uniformly spaced along said member at distances equal to the stepout of a given juncture across the portion of said shingle to be exposed; whereby shingles equal to the number of said step elements may be placed on said support end aligned with said linear stop, with one shingle abutting each of said stop elements, and cut along said cutting guide element to provide the juncture shingles for adjacent courses properly graded in length.

2. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be used for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which device comprises a planar support, a linear stop mounted on said support for alignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cutting guide element extending across said support at the angle of said juncture from a point of intersection with said linear stop, a grad ing stop member adjustably mounted on said support spaced from said linear stop and movable parallel to said linear stop, said grading stop member having a plurality of shingle margin arresting elements uniformly spaced therealong at distances equal to the stepout of said juncture across the shingle exposure on each course of shingles; whereby shingles equal to the number of said stop elements may be placed on said support aligned with said linear stop, with one shingle abutting each of said margin arresting elements, and out along said cutting guide element to provide the juncture shingles for adjacent courses properly graded in length.

3. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be used for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes which device comprises a planar support, linear stops mounted on opposite faces of said support for alignment of the horizontal shingle edges, a cutting guide element adapted to be secured to either side of said support so as to extend across said support at the angle of said juncture from a point of intersection with said linear stops, a grading unit adapted to be mounted on either face of said support spaced from said linear stops and having a plurality of shingle margin arresting elements spaced uniformly therealong at distances equal to the stepout of said juncture across the shingle exposure on each course of shingles; whereby shingles equal to the number of said arresting elements may be placed on one face of said support and aligned with said respective linear stop, with one shingle abutting each of said margin arresting elements and cut along said cutting guide element, and

then like numbers of shingles similarly placed on the other face of said support aligned with said respective linear stop, with one shingle abutting each of said margin arresting elements, and cut along said cutting guide element to provide the opposed juncture shingles for adjacent courses properly graded in length.

4. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be used for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which device comprises a generally planar support member, a linear stop fixed to said support member, a cutter guide element fixed to said support at an angle relative to said linear stop equal to the supplement of the angle which said juncture makes with the roof lower margin, and a series of stops fixed relative to said support and spaced each from the other a distance equal to the stepout of the said juncture across the shingle exposure on adjacent shingle courses.

5. A grading shingle cutter guide device for cutting shingles to be used for bordering the juncture between two roofing planes, which device comprises a support structure, a linear stop fixed to said support structure, a cutter guide element adjustably fixed to said support structure at an acute angle relative to said linear stop and equal to the supplement of the roof juncture to roof lower margin angle, a series of stops fixed relative to one another and spaced one from another in the direction longitudinally of said linear stop a distance equal to the stepout of said juncture across the shingle exposure on adjacent shingle courses, said stops being adjustable relative to said support structure in the direction longitudinally of said linear stop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 308,213 Stilly et al Nov. 18, 1884 1,137,453 Billings Apr. 27, 1915 1,874,068 Walker Aug. 30, 1932 1,944,918 Bielaski Jan. 30, 1934 1,981,231 Grant Nov. 20, 1934 2,941,554 Long June 21, 1960

Claims

4. A GRADING SHINGLE CUTTER GUIDE DEVICE FOR CUTTING SHINGLES TO BE USED FOR BORDERING THE JUNCTURE BETWEEN TWO ROOFING PLANES, WHICH DEVICE COMPRISES A GENERALLY PLANAR SUPPORT MEMBER, A LINEAR STOP FIXED TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBER, A CUTTER GUIDE ELEMENT FIXED TO SAID SUPPORT AT AN ANGLE RELATIVE TO SAID LINER STOP EQUAL TO THE SUPPLEMENT OF THE ANGLE WHICH SAID JUNCTURE MAKES WITH THE ROOF LOWER MARGIN, AND A SERIES OF STOPS FIXED RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT AND SPACED EACH FROM THE OTHER A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THE STEPOUT OF THE SAID JUNCTURE ACROSS THE SHINGLE EXPOSURE ON ADJACENT SHINGLE COURSES.