US3377762A - Composite shingle - Google Patents

Description

April 16, 1968 A. A. CHALMERS ETAL. 3,377,762

COMPOS ITE SHINGLE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 26, 1965 INVENToRs TTO EYS A..A. CHALMERS ETAL 3,377,762

April 16, v1968 COMPOSITE SHINGLE Filed Aug.v 26, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O ABS'I'RACT F THE DISCLOSURE A composite strip shingle comprises a saturated felt and asphalt base about three feet long and one foot wide, with a thin sheet aluminum sheathe over the lower approximately half of the ibase. The lower edge of the base is substantially thicker than the upper edge. The lower edge of the metal is bent around the lower edge of the base and reversely folded, to form a thick butt edge having a thickness of about 1A; inch. The lower edge of the shingle is notched at about one foot intervals by cutting of both the metal sheathe and the base. The resulting notches break up the continuity of the shadow line at the thick lower edge. The metal is indented but not cut above each notch to simulate the edges of adjacent individual shingles. Additional means such as a strip of self-sealing adhesive with a release tape are provided at the upper edge of the metal sheathe to hold down the lower edge of the next higher shingle in order to resist wind lift. A mechanical interlock may instead be used.

This invention relates to roofing, and more particularly to composite shingles of the strip shingle type.

Strip` shingles of the asphalt-saturated felt-base type are commonly used, but lack a rich heavy appearance because they are very thin at the exposed lower or butt edge. It has heen proposed to make strip shingles of formed sheet metal, in which case a thick butt edge is readily provided, but such shingles are not good for sound and heat insulation (although satisfactory for the reflection of radiant heat). Moreover, many` special fittings are needed for Valleys and corners, etc. lt has also been proposed to make a strip shingle which is a composite of saturated felt and metal, thus combining the advantages of both. The general object of the present invention is to improve such composite shingles.

A further object is to avoid the need for special fittings when applying the shingles to a roof, and for this purpose sheet aluminum may be used which is light enough to be sheared, or to be severed by first scoring with a knife. However, the metal is nearly filled with a substantial thickness of the saturated felt, resulting in a heavy solid shingle.

Still another object is to design the strip shingle for triple overlap, the felt base being made much wider than the metal, and so wide that there is a thickness of three strip shingles at the nailing lines. This provides a weather tight roof without requiring a tar paper base roof beneath the shingles.

Strip shingles are economical to manufacture and apply, but it is desired to simulate the appearance of the more expensive individual shingles, and for this purpose it has already been suggested to indent and darken the strip shingle at intervals to represent the edges of adjacent individual shingles. However, in actual practice the simulation has not been successful, and I find that this is so because there is an unbroken shadow line at the butt edge. An important object of the present invention therefore is to break up the shadow line along the butt edge, and this is done by notching the butt edge at appropriate intervals.

Still another object is to lock the metal sheath to the "ice felt base at the butt edge and also at the notch, and for this purpose the felt base is notched, but the metal is slit and folded around the felt base in the notch.

A still further object of the invention is to prevent wind lift. The danger of wind lift is reduced by the relatively heavy construction and weight of the shingle, and in addition we provide means at the upper edge of the metal sheath to hold down the lower portion of the next higher strip shingle. In one form this means is simply a selfsealing adhesive strip, preferably preliminarily provided with a release tape which is readily peeled off before ap4 plying the next higher strip shingle.

In another form of our invention the shingles are mechanically interlocked, and for this purpose the reversely bent lower edge of the metal sheath is used as a hook, and the upper edge of the metal sheath is reversely folded downwardly to act as a lip which receives the hook. Nailing tabs are provided, preferably and most economically by excising tabs behind the lip and turning them upward to receive nails which are located above the lip.

Ideally, the felt base should have a thick butt edge and should taper upward, but in present practice it is easier to use standard saturated felt which is readily commercially available, typically the so-called 30 pound felt which has a thickness of about 1/16 inch. In accordance with a feature and object of the present invention two such strips of full width are adhesively secured together, and a third narrow strip is adhesively secured at the lower edge to thicken the lbutt edge. The metal sheath may be folded to provide a butt edge which is one quarter inch thick, and its upward or reversely folded edge at the back may be clenched agaisnt the felt -base even though the latter is somewhat less in thickness.

To accomplish the foregoing objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, our invention resides in the composite strip shingle elements and their relation one to another, as are hereinafter more particularly described in the following specification. The specication is accompanied Iby drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a small piece of roof covered with the present shingle;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a single strip shingle;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section taken approximately on the line 4-*4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 6--6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section through a. modified form of the invention in which the successive shingles are mechanically interlocked;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevation drawn to reduced scale and showing a shingle arranged for mechanical interlock;

FIG. 9 is a section taken approximately on the line 9--9 of FIG. 8 and showing a mechanical interlock somewhat dilferent from that shown in FIG. l;

FIG. l() is a schematic section explanatory of one way to provide the felt base; and

FIG. 11 is a similar schematic section showing another way to provide the `felt hase.

Referring to FIG. l, the rooting simulates the appearance of individual shingles 12, having a relatively thick exposed butt edge l, the latter being interrupted by notches 16. The strip shingles are indented and darkened above each notch as indicated at 18, and the strips are laid in staggered formation, as is usual in roofing.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 6 of the drawings the strip shingle comprises a saturated felt ybase 20 which is substantially longer than wide. In the specific case shown in FIG. 2 the strip shingle is three feet long and one foot wide, and it has notches 16 at intervals of one foot. The shingle further comprises a thin sheet metal sheath 22 disposed over somewhat more than the lower half of the felt base Z0. The exposure (FIG. 1) is iive inches out of the twelve inch width. The lower edge of the metal is bent around the lower edge of the base, as shown at 14, and then reversely at Z4, thus forming the desired thick butt edge 14, which may be about onequarter inch thick or more.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the base 20 is cut away at the notches 16, but the metal sheath 22 is not similarly cut away and instead is slit at each side of the notch and bent around the edge of the base in the notch, as is shown at 26, 28. Thus the metal is bound to the base at the notches as well as at the lower edge of the shingle.

- Some of the metal may `be notched or cut away, if desired, but enough metal is left for the folded parts 26 and 28.

In the specific form illustrated the metal sheath covers the lower six and three-eighths inches of the felt base, leaving ve and ve-eighths inches of felt base above the metal. Nails are driven -below the upper edge of the metal, at locations indicated at 30 in FIG. 2. The substantial width of the felt base makes the resulting roof weather tight because the nailing of the next higher shingle goes through the base of the lower shingle, and at the nailing line there is a thickness of three shingles. This will be seen in FIG. 3 in which the nail 32 of the shingle shown in solid lines, passes through the felt base 34 of the lower shingle shown in broken lines, and is covered by the lower portion of the next higher shingle 36 also shown in broken lines. This is shown again at the top of FIG. 3 in which nail 38 passes through two Shingles and is protectively covered by the lower part of a third shin-gle 40.

The metal sheath is preferably sheet aluminum, and it may range in thicknesses from say 0.005 inch to 0.024 inch, and preferably has a thickness of say 0.008 inch. The aluminum may be utility grade sheet aluminum. It is preferably embossed to lgive it a wood grain finish, as is suggested at 42 in FIGS. 1 and 2. This finish when used is used over the entire surface except the indentations 18.

The aluminum is indented above each notch as shown at 18 in FIGS. 2 and 5, and the indentation is preferably darkened to better simulate a crevice between the edges of adjacent individual shingles. At the ends of the strip there are half width notches 44, and indentations 46 of half width, so that a uniform appearance is maintained where the strip shingles abut end to end. As is clearly shown in FIG. 5, the indentation 18 extends into the base a distance much less than the thickness of the base.

Ideally the felt base could be manufactured with a thick lower edge, and with a thickness which tapers upward toward the top edge of the base. This may be done later. However, such a felt base is not commercially available at present, and it is therefore preferred to use sheets of standard saturated asphalt felt. The so-called 30 pound asphalt felt is readily available, and has a thickness of about 1/16 inch. We employ two sheets 50 and S2 of full width, and a third sheet 54 which is much narrower than the two main sheets, and which is located at the lower edge of the shingle.

All three sheets are preferably adhesively secured together, preferably by means of an epoxy adhesive. The butt edge 14 provided by the bent met-al is preferably a full quarter inch in thickness, even though the assembled illustrated Ibase is somewhat less in thickness. The reversely bent edge `24 is readily clenched or crimped inward to bite against and to grip the felt base, as shown in FIG. 3. The sheet ymetal also may be and preferably is adhesively secured to the base, and here again a suitable weather-resistant epoxy adhesive may be used. If desired, a fourth narrow strip could be used, and in such case the third strip could be wider than the fourth, to better approach the theoretical desired taper.

When using standard saturated felt base the base may be built up in different ways. In FIG. 11 it comprises two wide strips and 52 and a narrow third strip 54, as previously described, but FIG. 10 shows the use of a single wide strip which provides a back layer 60, and is reversely folded at 62 to provide a front layer 64, and then again is reversely folded at the bottom edge to provide a narrow third layer 66. In still another form the back layer may lbe one piece, and the front layer 6ft and the narrow part 66 may be formed of another wider piece which is reversely folded at the bottom edge. This has the advantage of somewhat thickening the bottom edge. In all cases the layers 'may be adhesively secured to one another, and to the metal sheath which is indicated at 22.

The illustrated shingle resists wind lift because of its relatively heavy construction, but it is preferred to provide additional means at about the upper edge of the metal sheath, to hold down the lower edge of the next higher strip shingle. In simplest form this comprises a strip of self-sealing adhesive, and such a strip is shown at in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing. The strip here illustrated is about an inch in width, and straddles the top edge of the metal sheath. For convenience it is initially masked or protected by a release strip 72, this stri-p being readily peeled off when laying the roof. The adhesive used is one which softens under sun heat.

It should be mentioned that for clarity of illustration the thickness of the adhesive has been exaggerated in the drawing, and also the release strip has been shown in position, and therefore a gap or spacing exists between the exposed butt edge of one shingle and the face of the next lower shingle, whereas in practice the shingles lie flat against one another, that is, the butt edge 14 in FIG. 3 would lie against the shingle 74; the butt edge of shingle 36 would lie against the metal sheath 22; and the butt edge of shingle 4t) would lie against shingle 36.

If desired, the additional means to prevent wind lift may be mechanical instead of adhesive, and referring to FIG. 7 the reversely bent lower edge 80 of metal sheath 82 acts as a hook, while the upper edge 84 of the metal sheath 82 is reversely folded downwardly to act as a lip to receive the similar hook 86 of the metal sheath 88 of the next higher shingle. The felt base here illustrated is formed as before of two wide strips 90 and 92 and one narrow strip 94, of standard saturated felt, 'but it will be recalled that the butt edge 96 has a width of one-fourth inch and therefore is wider than the base, thus providing clearance at the hook 80, to receive the lip 98 of the sheath 100 of the next lower shingle. In this respect the construction differs from what is shown at the lower edge in FIGS. 3 and 4 in that there is no crimping or indenting to bite into the felt base. Moreover in this structure the metal edge is preferably reversely folded as indicated at 102 and 104, to somewhat stilren and strengthen the metal, and also to reduce any possi-bility of injury to those working with the shingles.

With a mechanical interlock the nails preferably are driven above the interlock, as shown by the nails 106 in FIG. 7. For this purpose the shingle is preferably provided with metal nailing tabs indicated at 1%8. These are preferably excised behind the lip and turned upward. The tabs may be located at aspacing of say six inches, as indicated at 110 in FIG. 8, which has similar nailing tabs, although shown on a somewhat different shingle.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a modification in which the hook and lip are more elaborately formed. Referring to FIG. 9 theA hook part 112 is somewhat reversely bent, and the lip 114 has a roiled edge or eye 116, so that the parts 112 and 116 interlock. This interlock requires cut ting away of some of the asphalt base, as indicated at 118, and it is therefore preferred to use the arrangement of FIGS. 7 which is simpler to manufacture; does not require cutting away the base; and provides adequate interlock.

The tabs 103 and 110 preferably have nail holes or slots pre-punched therethrough. The shingle of FIG. 2 may have prepunched nail holes, but it is preferred to merely indent the metal at 30 to show the preferred location of the nails. A nail may be driven through the metal, with a resulting tight fit of the metal and of the asphalt felt around the shank of the nail. The roofer may drive a nail elsewhere when necessary or desired, but the indentations 30 serve as a guide for normal nailing. In FIG. 2 there are seven nails for each strip. The strips `are offset or staggered when nailing the same.

Although shown vertically in FIGS. 3, 4 and 9, the shingle is intended for roofing, and is used at an angle, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7.

-When using sheet aluminum having a thickness of 0.008 inch the shingle may be cut by means of shears, or by scoring and breaking the metal and then cutting the felt. In this way shingles may be fitted by the roofer while roofing, and this eliminates the need for special sizes, and for special fittings for valleys and corners and the like.

In manufacture, the sheet aluminum may be prelimin` arily painted and embossed with a wood grain embossing, and then may be given second and third coats of paint. Baked enamel may be used, for long life. The fabrication of the shingle may be continued with the notching and indenting previously referred to. The indentation and notch are coated with black paint, or with a dark color, e.g. a very dark brown for a brown shingle, or a very dark green for a green shingle, etc.

It is believed that the construction and method of use of our improved strip shingle, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The shingle provides a weather tight roof without requiring a tar paper base roof therebeneath, although such tar paper base may be used if desired. The roof is weathertight because the felt base is so wide that there is a triple overlap of the shingles, there being an exposure of only five inches out of the twelve inch width. The labor cost is low and is comparable to asphalt roofing. Special accessory fittings are not needed. The shingle combines the advantages of asphalt roofing and metal roofing, for it provides good sound and heat insulation, and also heat reflection. The thick butt edge has an attractive appearance, and the notching of the edge breaks up the continuity of the shadow line formed when the sun shines on the roof, thus simulating individual shingles in contrast with strip shingles.

Although I have referred to the base as being asphalt saturated felt, it will be understood that other suitable materials may be used, such as soft fiber board, fiber glass mat, wood, and some of the foamed plastics. The adhesive need not be epoxy, and an asphalt type adhesive may be used. Although we have described the shingles for roofing it may be used also as siding.

It will be understood that while we have shown and described our invention in several preferred forms, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A strip shingle comprising a solid composition base which is substantially longer than wide, the lower edge of the base being much thicker than the upper edge of the base, said base tapering in thickness from the lower edge to the upper edge, a thin sheet metal sheath over the lower approximately half of the base, the lower metal edge being bent around the thick lower edge of the base and reversely to form a thick butt edge, the lower edge of the strip shingle being upwardly notched at intervals; lboth the metal sheath and the base being notched, and the metal and base being indented above.` each notch and the indentations extending into said base a distance mulch less than the thi-ckness of said base, said indentation being darkened in color to simulate the edges of adjacent individual shingles, said notches serving to break up the continuity of the shadow line at the thick lower edge of the strip.

2. A strip shingle as defined in claim 1, in which the metal at the notch is slit and bent around the edge of the base in the notch to enclose the'top edge of the notch.

3. A strip shingle as defined in claim 1, in which there is means on the shingle to hold down the lower portion of the next higher strip shingle in order to resist wind lift.

4. A strip shingle as defined in claim 3, in which the means to resist wind lift comprises a strip of self-sealing adhesive extending longitudinally of the strip at about the upper edge of the metal sheath.

5. A strip shingle as defined in claim 3, in which the means to resist wind lift comprises the reversely bent lower edge of the metal sheath acting as a hook, and the upper edge of the metal sheath which is reversely folded downwardly to act as a lip which receives the hook.

6. A strip shingle as defined in claim 3, in which the means to resist wind lift comprises the reversely bent flower edge of the metal sheath acting as a hook, and the upper edge of the metal sheath which is reversely folded downwardly to act as a lip which receives the hook, and in which tabs of metal are excised behind the lip and turned upward to act as nailing tabs to receive nails located above the lip.

7. A strip shingle as defined in claim 1 in which the base is a saturated felt and asphalt composition base, and is about three feet long and one foot wide, and in which the sheath is made of aluminum having a coating of desired color, and in which the lower edge of the felt and asphalt composition base is substantially as thick as the butt edge of the shingle, and is about one-quarter inch thick, and in which the upper edge of the base is about one-sixteenth inch thick.

8. A strip shingle as defined in claim 7, in which the metal at the notch is slit and bent around the edge of the base in the notch to enclose the top edge of the notch.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,609,127 11/1926 Rachlin 52--531 1,638,746 8/1927 Robinson 52-556 1,666,755 4/1928 Rahr 52--556 2,626,577 1/1953 Roush 52-531 X 3,190,040 6/1965 Theobald 52-420 X 3,237,361 3/1966 Norman 52--556 X 3,282,009 11/ 1966 Chalmers 52-531 3,312,031 4/1967 Berg 52-316 X 1,053,792 2/1913 Dietz 52--560 1,584,343 5/1926 Abraham 52-557 2,120,278 6/1938 Guiterman 52--554 XR 3,137,972 6/1964 Ekholm et al. 52.-420

FRANK ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Examiner.

P. C. FAW, M. O. WARNECKE, Assistant Examiners.

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