U.S. patent application number 10/889564 was filed with the patent office on 2005-09-01 for shingles with multiple blend drops and method of depositing granules onto a moving substrate.
Invention is credited to Elliott, Bert W..
Application Number | 20050191463 10/889564 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22000655 |
Filed Date | 2005-09-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050191463 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Elliott, Bert W. |
September 1, 2005 |
Shingles with multiple blend drops and method of depositing
granules onto a moving substrate
Abstract
A method of making shingles includes providing a moving asphalt
coated sheet having at least an overlay lane and an underlay lane.
Blend drops of at least two color blends are discharged onto each
lane, wherein at least one of the blend drops discharged onto the
overlay lane has a different color blend from the color blends of
all the blend drops discharged onto the underlay lane. Background
granules are then discharged onto the asphalt coated sheet to form
a granule coated sheet, and the excess granules are removed from
the granule coated sheet.
Inventors: |
Elliott, Bert W.; (Toledo,
OH) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OWENS CORNING
2790 COLUMBUS ROAD
GRANVILLE
OH
43023
US
|
Family ID: |
22000655 |
Appl. No.: |
10/889564 |
Filed: |
July 12, 2004 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10889564 |
Jul 12, 2004 |
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10055864 |
Jan 22, 2002 |
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6790307 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
428/141 ;
427/186; 428/143; 428/144 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 428/24372 20150115;
B05D 3/12 20130101; B05D 5/06 20130101; Y10T 428/2438 20150115;
Y10T 428/24355 20150115; Y10T 156/13 20150115; Y10T 156/1075
20150115; B05D 1/30 20130101; Y10T 156/1069 20150115; E04D 1/26
20130101; E04D 2001/005 20130101; Y10S 83/929 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
428/141 ;
427/186; 428/143; 428/144 |
International
Class: |
B05D 001/12; B32B
001/00; B05D 001/24 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of making shingles comprising: providing a moving
asphalt coated sheet having at least an overlay lane and an
underlay lane; discharging blend drops of at least two color blends
onto each lane, wherein at least one of the blend drops discharged
onto the overlay lane has a different color blend from the color
blends of all the blend drops discharged onto the underlay lane;
discharging background granules onto the asphalt coated sheet to
form a granule coated sheet; and removing excess granules from the
granule coated sheet.
2. The method of claim 1 including: discharging blend drops of
three color blends onto the overlay lane and discharging blend
drops of three color blends onto the underlay lane; wherein at
least one of the blend drops discharged onto the overlay lane has a
different color blend from the color blends of all the blend drops
discharged onto the underlay lane.
3. The method of claim 1 including: dividing the granule coated
sheet into overlay and underlay strips; and laminating the overlay
and underlay strips together to form shingles.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein one of the blend drops forms a
shadow line on a tab or cutout of the shingle.
5. A method of making shingles comprising: providing a moving
asphalt coated sheet having an overlay lane, a middle lane and an
underlay lane; discharging blend drops of at least two color blends
onto each lane, wherein each lane has a combination of color blends
for the blend drops different from the combination of color blends
for the blend drops of the other two lanes; discharging background
granules onto the asphalt coated sheet to form a granule coated
sheet; removing excess granules from the granule coated sheet;
dividing the granule coated sheet into continuous overlay, middle
and underlay strips; and laminating the continuous overlay, middle
and underlay strips together to form trilaminate shingles.
6. The method of claim 5 in which: the step of removing excess
granules includes collecting excess granules in a backfall hopper
that segregates excess granules from lane to lane; and the step of
applying background granules includes applying to each lane excess
granules removed from that lane.
7. A plurality of laminated shingles, each shingle comprising an
overlay sheet and an underlay sheet; the overlay sheets having a
prime area that is substantially covered with granules, including
one or more blend drops from a first group of blend drops of at
least two color blends; the underlay sheets being substantially
covered with granules, including one or more blend drops from a
second group of blend drops of at least two color blends; wherein
at least one of the color blends of a blend drop of the first group
of blend drops is a different color from the color blends of all of
the blend drops of the second group.
8. The plurality of shingles of claim 7 in which: the first group
of blend drops comprises three color blends, and the second group
of blend drops comprises three color blends.
9. A plurality of trilaminated shingles, each shingle comprising an
overlay sheet, a middle sheet and an underlay sheet; the overlay
sheets having a prime area that is substantially covered with
granules, including one or more blend drops from a first group of
blend drops of at least two color blends; the underlay sheets being
substantially covered with granules, including one or more blend
drops from a second group of blend drops of at least two color
blends; the middle sheets being substantially covered with
granules, including one or more blend drops from a third group of
blend drops of at least two color blends; wherein the collection of
the color blends for the blend drops of each of the first, second
and third groups of blend drops is different from the collection of
color blends for the blend drops of the other groups of blend
drops.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to shingles having multiple blend
drops of granules and to methods and apparatus for depositing
multiple blend drops onto a moving substrate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A common method for the manufacture of asphalt shingles is
the production of a continuous strip of asphalt shingle material
followed by a shingle cutting operation which cuts the material
into individual shingles. In the production of asphalt strip
material, a substrate such as an organic felt or a glass fiber mat
is passed through a coater containing liquid asphalt to form a
tacky asphalt coated strip. Subsequently, the hot asphalt strip is
passed beneath one or more granule applicators which apply the
protective surface granules to portions of the asphalt strip
material. Typically, the granules are dispensed from a hopper at a
rate which can be controlled by making adjustments to the flow of
granules discharged from the hopper. In the manufacture of colored
shingles, two types of granules are employed. Headlap granules are
granules of relatively low cost for portions of the shingle which
are to be covered up when the shingles are installed on a roof.
Colored granules or prime granules are of relatively higher cost
and are applied to the portion of the shingle which will be exposed
on the roof.
[0003] Not all of the granules applied to the hot, tacky, asphalt
coated strip adhere to the strip, and, typically, the strip
material is turned around a slate drum to invert the strip and
cause the non-adhered granules to drop off. These non-adhered
granules, which are known as backfall granules, are usually
recovered by collecting them in a backfall hopper. The backfall
granules are eventually recycled and discharged onto the sheet.
[0004] To provide a color pattern of pleasing appearance the
colored shingles are provided in different shades or color
variations of the predominant color, usually in the form of a
predominant background color and a series of granule deposits of
different colors or different shades from the background color.
These highlighted series of deposits, referred to as blend drops,
are typically made by discharging granules from a series of blend
drop granule dispensers that are positioned upstream from the
background granule dispenser.
[0005] It would be advantageous if there could be developed a
shingle, and a method and apparatus for making such a shingle,
where the deposits of blend drop granules could be used to provide
an even more aesthetically pleasing appearance when the shingle is
applied with similar shingles on a roof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The above objects as well as other objects not specifically
enumerated are achieved by a method of making shingles, where the
method includes providing a moving asphalt coated sheet having at
least an overlay lane and an underlay lane. Blend drops of at least
two color blends are discharged onto each lane, wherein at least
one of the blend drops discharged onto the overlay lane has a
different color blend from the color blends of all the blend drops
discharged onto the underlay lane. Background granules are then
discharged onto the asphalt coated sheet to form a granule coated
sheet, and the excess granules are removed from the granule coated
sheet.
[0007] According to this invention there is also provided a method
of making shingles, where the method includes providing a moving
asphalt coated sheet having an overlay lane, a middle lane and an
underlay lane. Blend drops of at least two color blends are
discharged onto each lane, wherein each lane has a combination of
color blends for the blend drops different from the combination of
color blends for the blend drops of the other two lanes. Background
granules are discharged onto the asphalt coated sheet to form a
granule coated sheet, and excess granules are removed from the
granule coated sheet. The granule coated sheet is divided into
continuous overlay, middle and underlay strips, and the continuous
overlay, middle and underlay strips are laminated together to form
trilaminate shingles.
[0008] According to this invention there is also provided a
plurality of laminated shingles, each shingle comprising an overlay
sheet and an underlay sheet. The overlay sheets have a prime area
that is substantially covered with granules, including one or more
blend drops from a first group of blend drops of at least two color
blends. The underlay sheets are substantially covered with
granules, including one or more blend drops from a second group of
blend drops of at least two color blends. At least one of the color
blends of a blend drop of the first group of blend drops is a
different color from the color blends of all of the blend drops of
the second group.
[0009] According to this invention there is also provided a
plurality of trilaminated shingles, each shingle comprising an
overlay sheet, a middle sheet and an underlay sheet. The overlay
sheets have a prime area that is substantially covered with
granules, including one or more blend drops from a first group of
blend drops of at least two color blends. The underlay sheets are
substantially covered with granules, including one or more blend
drops from a second group of blend drops of at least two color
blends. The middle sheets are substantially covered with granules,
including one or more blend drops from a third group of blend drops
of at least two color blends. The collection of the color blends
for the blend drops of each of the first, second and third groups
of blend drops is different from the collection of color blends for
the blend drops of the other groups of blend drops.
[0010] Various objects and advantages of this invention will become
apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments, when read in light of the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a shingle
manufacturing operation according to the invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the application of
blend drops and background granules to the asphalt coated sheet
according to the method of the invention.
[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the application of blend
drops and background granules to the asphalt coated sheet to make a
trilaminate shingle according to the method of the invention.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a plan view of a laminated shingle according to
the invention.
[0015] FIG. 5 is a plan view of a trilaminate shingle according to
the invention.
[0016] FIG. 6 is a roof having a roof covering of laminated
shingles according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus for carrying out the
method of the invention is indicated generally at 10. A shingle
base mat 12, preferably a fiberglass mat, is payed out from a roll
14, and passed through an asphalt coater 16 to form an asphalt
coated sheet 18. The asphalt coated sheet 14 moves in the machine
direction, indicated by arrow 20. The sheet usually moves at a
speed of at least about 200 feet/minute (61 meters/minute), and
typically at a speed within the range of between about 450
feet/minute (137 meters/minute) and about 800 feet/minute (244
meters/minute). Blend drop granule dispensers 22, 24 and 26 are
positioned above the asphalt coated sheet. These blend drop
dispensers 22, 24 and 26 are designed to discharge blend drops of
granules onto the asphalt coated sheet 18. Different ones of the
plurality of blend drop dispensers 22, 24 and 26 can be arranged to
apply blend drops 20 of different shapes and color blends. The use
of multiple blend drop dispensers is well known in the art.
[0018] Subsequent to the application of the blend drops by all the
blend drop dispensers 22, 24 and 26, background and backfall
granules are deposited by the backfall hopper 30 onto the asphalt
coated sheet. The background granules adhere to the portions of the
asphalt coated sheet that not are already covered by the blend drop
granules. The background and backfall granules are applied to the
extent that the asphalt coated sheet becomes completely covered
with granules, and the sheet becomes a granule coated sheet 32. The
granule coated sheet 32 is then inverted by traveling around the
slate drum 34, which causes any excess granules to drop off on the
backside of the drum and consequently be removed from the granule
coated sheet. The excess granules are intercepted by a backfall
hopper 30, which is positioned on the backside of the slate
drum.
[0019] After passing around the slate drum, the granule covered
sheet 32 is cooled, and subsequently cut into individual shingles
36 by a chopper 38, and packaged in bundles, not shown, for
transportation to customers. The shingles of the invention are
laminated shingles (having an upper sheet or overlay, and a lower
sheet or underlay) or trilaminate shingles (having an overlay, an
underlay and a middle sheet positioned between the overlay and the
underlay). After the granule coated sheet 32 is cooled, prior to
cutting the material into individual shingles, the granule coated
sheet is cut longitudinally into continuous overlay and underlay
strips, not shown, for laminated shingles, or into continuous
overlay, middle and underlay strips, not shown, for the trilaminate
shingles. These continuous strips are continuously fed together in
a manner well known in the art, and then laminated together with a
laminating adhesive to form continuous laminated strips 40. The
cutting, aligning and laminating steps are shown schematically at
39 in FIG. 1. These steps are all known in the art, as evidenced,
for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,487 to Lamb. Subsequently the
continuous laminated strips 40 are cut to form the individual
shingles 36.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the asphalt coated sheet is being
processed in a manner such that two laminated shingles are
simultaneously made. The asphalt coated sheet can be viewed as
being divided into various lanes during manufacturing, for purposes
of illustration, although until the sheet is slit into the various
lane components, it remains a single sheet. The outside or underlay
lanes 42 and 44 are the underlay lanes for each of the two
laminated shingles, respectively. These lanes 42 and 44 receive
prime or colored granules, and also have blend drops applied to
them. The innermost lane or overlay lane 46 is the overlay lane for
the laminated shingle, and this also receives prime or colored
granules, and it also has blend drops applied to it. The
intermediate lanes 48 and 50 are headlap lanes, and these headlap
lanes have headlap granules applied to them. In subsequent cuffing
steps, the underlay lanes 42, 44 are separated from the headlap
lanes 48 and 50, respectively. Also, the overlay lane is cut into
two complementary portions, such as with a tab and cutout
design.
[0021] As further shown in FIG. 2, the blend drop dispenser 24
includes a hopper 52 for holding a quantity of granules for
discharge onto the asphalt coated sheet 18. The blend drop
dispenser 24 includes a mechanism, not shown, for metering and
delivering granules from the hopper 52 onto the asphalt coated
sheet 18 to form a blend drop 54. Several different types of blend
drop dispensers are known in the art, and any of these would be
suitable for purposes of the present invention. Granules are fed to
the hopper 52 from granule supplies, not shown.
[0022] The blend drop dispenser 24 extends transversely across the
moving asphalt coated sheet 18. It is to be understood that some
shingle machines will be set up to make multiple shingles
simultaneously, and blend drops are not needed in the headlap areas
of the shingles. Therefore, although the hopper extends all the way
across the shingle machine, i.e., across the asphalt coated sheet
18, the hopper 52 is provided with dividers 56 to segment the
hopper into multiple compartments for accumulating granules of
different colors or color blends, which correspond to various blend
drops that are to be deposited on the asphalt coated sheet.
[0023] Blend drop dispensers 26 and 28 are also positioned
transversely with respect to the moving asphalt coated sheet, but
are shown partially cut away for purposes of clarity. The hopper 60
for granule dispenser 26 includes dividers, not shown, that segment
the hopper 60 so that it can discharge three blend drops 64 onto
the underlay lane 42, overlay lane 46 and underlay lane 44,
respectively. The hopper 70 for granule dispenser 28 includes
dividers, not shown, that segment the hopper 70 so that it can
discharge two blend drops 74, onto underlay lanes 42 and 44,
respectively.
[0024] As is well known in the art, blend drops applied to the
asphalt coated sheet are often made up of granules of several
different colors. For example, one particular blend drop that is
supposed to simulate a weathered wood appearance might actually
consist of some brown granules, some dark gray granules and some
light gray granules. When these granules are mixed together and
applied to the sheet as a blend drop in a generally uniformly mixed
manner, the overall appearance of weathered wood is achieved. For
this reason, the blend drops are referred to as having a color
blend, which gives an overall color appearance, and this overall
appearance may be different from any of the actual colors of the
granules in the color blend. Also, blend drops of darker and
lighter shades of the same color, such as, for example, dark gray
and light gray, are referred to as different color blends rather
than merely different shades of one color.
[0025] The backfall hopper 30 sequentially follows the blend drop
dispensers 22, 24 and 26, and it is divided by dividers into
compartments 76-80. The compartments 76-80 correspond to the two
underlay lanes, 42, 44, the overlay lane 46, and the two headlap
lanes 48 and 50, respectively. Excess granules falling from the
granule coated sheet 32 charge the compartments 76-80 with
granules, and these granules are deposited continuously onto the
asphalt coated sheet 18 to completely cover the sheet with
granules. Additional background granules are fed to compartments
76, 77 and 78 by granule conduits 82, 84, and 86 from granule
sources, not shown, so that those compartments contain not only
granules recovered from their respective lanes (underlay lanes 42
and 44, and overlay lane 46), but also a substantial amount of
fresh background granules. Likewise, headlap compartments 79 and 80
are connected to a source, not shown, of headlap granules to
provide additional headlap granules. Once the granule coated sheet
32 is formed, the granule coated sheet can be divided into overlay
and underlay strips, not shown, with the overlay strips including
the associated headlap portion, and subsequently laminated together
in a process, not shown, that is well known in the art. A laminated
shingle 36 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 4,
and it includes an overlay sheet 88 and an underlay sheet 89.
[0026] The process of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.
2 involves discharging blend drops of at least two color blends on
each lane that is to receive colored or prime granules. Underlay
lanes 42 and 44 periodically receive blend drops 64 and 74 from
blend drop dispensers 24 and 26, respectively. In contrast, overlay
lane 46 periodically receives blend drops 54 and 64 from blend drop
dispensers 24 and 26, respectively. It can be seen that at least
one of the blend drops discharged onto the overlay lane 46 has a
different color blend (i.e., blend drop 54) from the color blends
of all the blend drops (i.e., blend drops 64 and 74) discharged on
the underlay lanes 42 and 44. Although the underlay lanes 42 and 44
receive blend drops 64 and 74 of two color blends, three or more
different color blends could be applied to the underlay lanes.
Likewise, although the overlay lane 46 receives blend drops 54 and
64 from blend drop dispensers 24 and 26, respectively, three or
more different color blends could be applied to the overlay lane
46. The important distinction between the application of the at
least two blend drops to the underlay lanes and the at least two
blend drops to the overlay lanes is that at least one of the blend
drops discharged onto the overlay lane has a different color blend
from the color blends of all the blend drops discharged onto the
underlay lanes. This gives the laminated shingles of the invention
a unique character by enabling different color combinations to be
used on the underlay than those color combinations used on the
overlay. Blend drops applied according to the present invention
also provide a random appearance, as the coloration is not
consistently applied at regular intervals.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, the asphalt coated sheet 18 can be
viewed as having three lanes 90, 92 and 94 for the application of
prime or colored granules, and a headlap lane 96 that receives
headlap granules. The slate drum 34 and the blend drop applicators
22, 24 and 26 are not shown so that the other features of the
invention can be illustrated more clearly. Underlay lane 90
receives blend drops 100 and 102 from blend drop dispensers 24 and
28, respectively. Overlay lane 92 receives blend drops 104 and 102
from blend drop dispensers 26 and 28, respectively. Middle lane 94
receives blend drops 100 and 102 from blend drop dispensers 24 and
26, respectively. The headlap lane 96 receives no blend drops. The
backfall hopper 106 is segmented by dividers into compartments 108,
110, 112, and 114. Each of compartments 108, 110 and 114 receives
recovered granules from the slate drum and original background
granules from a source of granules, not shown. The headlap
compartment 112 receives original headlap granules.
[0028] The backfall hopper 106 dispenses granules continuously onto
the asphalt coated sheet 18, resulting in the granule coated sheet
32. The granule coated sheet 32 can be subsequently divided to
separate the middle lane 94 from the headlap lane 96, and to
separate the underlay lane 90 from the overlay lane 92, thereby
forming continuous underlay, overlay (including the headlap lane)
and middle strips, not shown. According to the well known
lamination process above, the underlay, overlay (including the
headlap lane) and middle strips are laminated together to form a
continuous trilaminate strip, not shown, and subsequently cut into
trilaminate shingles 116, as shown in FIG. 5. The trilaminate
shingle includes overlay sheet 118, middle sheet 120 and underlay
sheet 122.
[0029] It can be seen that blend drops of at least two color blends
are discharged onto each lane, wherein each lane has a combination
of color blends for the blend drops different from the combination
of color blends for the blend drops of the other two lanes.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of laminated shingles 36
according to the invention can be installed on a roof 126. The
installation can be in courses, C1, C2, and C3. In the alternative,
the roof could be covered with trilaminate shingles similar to
shingle 116.
[0031] This invention has been described as making two laminated
shingles simultaneously, i.e., 2-wide, as shown in FIG. 1, or as
making a single trilaminate shingle, i.e. 1-wide, as shown in FIG.
3. It is to be understood that the invention can be applied to
shingle manufacturing machines that make any number of shingles
simultaneously.
[0032] In another embodiment, the invention includes shadow lines
on the tabs and/or cutouts; i.e. the shingle includes granules of a
lighter or darker shade at either the top and/or bottom of one or
more tabs and/or cutouts. A few examples of shadows are provided in
commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,847 to Phillips, which is
incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 5,
the middle layer 120 may form a shadow line adjacent one or more of
the tabs of the overlay within the cutout of the overlay, as the
middle layer 120 may include granules of a different color than the
overlay 118 and underlay 122, thereby forming a light or dark
shadow adjacent the tab to add depth to the shingle.
[0033] The principle and mode of operation of this invention have
been described in its preferred embodiments. However, it should be
noted that this invention can be practiced otherwise than as
specifically illustrated and described without departing from its
scope.
* * * * *