U.S. patent number 3,640,044 [Application Number 04/856,981] was granted by the patent office on 1972-02-08 for prefabricated panel of shingles.
Invention is credited to Raymond W. Watts.
United States Patent |
3,640,044 |
Watts |
February 8, 1972 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
PREFABRICATED PANEL OF SHINGLES
Abstract
A prefabricated panel of shingles having a plurality of courses
and a thin mounting strip extending over the upper face of the
shingles in each course and secured thereto. The strip is so
positioned relative to the lower edge of the shingles in each
course as to be covered by the lower margin of the shingles of the
next course. Staples extending through the thin strip and through
each shingle on adjacent opposed vertical edges thereof.
Inventors: |
Watts; Raymond W. (Westport,
CT) |
Family
ID: |
25324888 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/856,981 |
Filed: |
September 11, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/543; D25/56;
52/535; 52/551; D25/139; 52/540; 52/555 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04D
1/265 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E04D
1/26 (20060101); E04D 1/00 (20060101); E04d
003/365 (); E04d 001/20 () |
Field of
Search: |
;52/543,535,540,541,551,555,553,560,557,554 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1,058,061 |
|
Mar 1954 |
|
FR |
|
1,117,713 |
|
Apr 1959 |
|
FR |
|
Primary Examiner: Abbott; Frank L.
Assistant Examiner: Burke, III; Sam D.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A prefabricated panel formed of a plurality of courses of
individual wood shingles comprising, in combination, a first course
of shingles, a first thin mounting strip extending over the upper
faces of the shingles in said first course and secured to each
shingle in said first course, at least a second course of shingles,
said second course partially overlying said first course with the
lower margin of the shingles in said second course covering said
first mounting strip, a second thin mounting strip laterally spaced
from said first mounting strip and extending over the upper faces
of the shingles in said second course, said second mounting strip
being secured to each shingle in said second course and the
corresponding underlying shingle in said first course, and each
course of shingles succeeding said second course being similarly
positioned and secured to the underlying course by means of a thin
mounting strip positioned and secured in a manner similar to said
second mounting strip, the terminal shingles of all said courses
being progressively staggered in one direction along at least one
edge of said panel.
2. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein the terminal shingles of
said courses are progressively staggered in the same direction
along both edges of said panel, the total shingles in each said
course having substantially the same combined length.
3. A panel as defined in claim 1 for use as a terminal panel on a
surface and wherein one said edge thereof is staggered as
aforesaid, the opposite edge thereof being straight.
4. The panel defined in claim 1 having from five to nine courses of
said wood shingles.
5. A prefabricated panel as defined in claim 1 wherein said
mounting strips are secured to the respective underlying shingles
by means of staples.
6. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein each shingle is spaced from
the adjoining shingles in each course by a distance sufficient to
allow for expansion thereof.
7. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein the mounting strips are
made from sheet metal.
8. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein the mounting strips are
made from plastic.
9. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein the mounting strips at one
end of the panel extend to the outer edge of the terminal shingle
in each course and are spaced from the outer edge of the terminal
shingle at the opposite end of each course.
10. The panel defined in claim 1 wherein the uppermost course has
two spaced mounting strips.
Description
This invention relates to a prefabricated shingle assembly for
application to a roof wherein a relatively few of the panels will
cover the entire roof and can be applied in a short time and
wherein the finished roof has the precise appearance of an
authentic wood shingle roof with individually applied shingles.
The shingle assembly of the present invention is primarily for wood
shingles which are expensive to apply in the conventional fashion
and many of the shingles are damaged during the roofing
operation.
The shingles which go into the panel of the present invention are
ideally suited for prefabrication in the shop, but it is not
feasible to fabricate a single panel covering the entire roof or
even a single slope of the roof because of the discontinuities
caused by dormers, chimneys, etc. In accordance with the present
invention, standard panels of reasonable length such as 8 to 10
feet and with five or six courses are formed and hoisted into
place. The panel is desirably raised to final position in the roof
by overhead means, such as a light crane or a "cherry picker" and
the nailing readily accomplished without the need for the workmen
to step on the roof.
An important object of the invention is to provide a panel of
shingles and a method of applying multiple shingles to a roof which
provide an improved shingle roof and which can be laid in a
fraction of the time required by conventional means, consisting in
laying and nailing the shingles, one at a time.
In accordance with the present invention, a course of shingles,
i.e., the lower course, is laid out on a work support and extending
6, 8 or 10 feet as desired, after which a mounting strip, located
far enough above the lower edge of the course as to be covered by
the shingles in the second course, is nailed to the shingles. A
second course is then laid over the first an approved distance
above this lower edge so as to cover the first mounting strip. The
right side of the panel is not straight. Rather is each succeeding
course laid inwardly to the left a predetermined distance, usually
11/2 inches, and the mounting strip extends clear to the right-hand
edge of the shingle in each course while at the left edge it stops
just in excess of 11/2 inches so that when the second panel in a
row is applied, there is no binding and the shingle ends fit
precisely. A slight space is provided between each shingle,
generally one-fourth inch to allow for expansion. The right-hand
end of the mounting strip is nailed in place and, as soon as the
next panel to the left has been fitted in place, the ends of the
strips are nailed. An important feature of the mounting technique
resides in the fact that a nail with a T-head is applied to some,
but not all, of the shingles in the panel by a nail gun whose head
enters a space between two shingles and is driven through the
mounting strip and the shingles. Several of these nails in each
strip affixes the panel to the roof far more effectively than can
individual shingles be applied to the roof.
In the drawings
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional roof and showing the
manner in which the panels are laid;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a standard panel of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is an end elevation of this panel;
FIG. 4 is a plan view of the panel used at the left hand end of the
roof;
FIG. 5 shows the panel at the right hand end thereof;
FIG. 6 is a section on line 6--6 of FIG. 2.
There is shown in FIG. 2 a panel 10 of shingles which have been
assembled in the shop as distinguished from application of the
individual shingles, one at a time, to the roof. It is shown as
having six courses but it may have more or less. The first course
11 is shown as comprising five shingles 12 and a thin strip 14 of
metal or plastic material overlays these shingles at a point
sufficiently far removed from the lower edge 16 of the panel to
cause it to be covered by the lower edges 18 of the shingles in the
second course 19. The shingles in the first course are secured to
the strip by driving 2 or more U-shaped staples 20 through the
strip and through each of the shingles, preferably by means of a
power driven staple gun with means underneath so as to cause the
ends of the legs to be clinched inwardly as shown at 21 in FIG. 6.
A work support with a metal top suffices to perform this
function.
A standard shingle length is 18 inches and shingles come in random
widths. If the mounting strip of metal or plastic is 1 inch wide,
it should be affixed 51/2 inches from the lower edges 16 of the
shingles in the first course. The lower edge 18 of the shingles in
the second course 19 extend one-half inch below strip 14 on the
first course. Power driven staple guns of the type used for the
foregoing purpose are common in the carpentry trade. The first
strip 14 extends clear to the right hand side of the first shingle
in the first course. At the opposite end of this first course the
strip terminates at or just short of the left-hand side of the last
shingle in the second course as shown at 21. The first shingle 22
in the second course is set inwardly of the first shingle in the
first course. The last shingle in the second course extends a
distance beyond the last shingle in the first course. These
distances should be about 11/2 inches and each course should be of
the same length so that the staggered ends of each panel precisely
fit those in the adjoining panel. Although the shingles are of
varying width, their widths follow a common pattern so that it is a
simple matter to select shingles for the second course which have
precisely the same combined widths as those in the first
course.
It will be noted that the shingles in each course are not in
side-by-side abutment but rather there is a space 24 between each
shingle. This space should be about one-fourth inch to allow for
expansion of the shingle in hot weather. The number of courses in a
panel is a matter of choice but in general it can be said that a
panel of between six and nine courses gives maximum stability and
rigidity without becoming so heavy as to be unwieldy in hoisting
the panel to the roof and nailing it.
The last course 26 in the panel should preferably have the usual
metal or plastic strip 14 and also a second strip 28. This
compensates for the fact that the upper end of each shingle is
thinner than the lower end so that the upper edge of each panel
necessarily has less structural strength than the lower edge.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that after panel 10 is
nailed in place a second panel having the identical configuration
can be placed on the roof adjacent to the first panel, moved to the
right so that the underlying edges at the right side of the second
panel are closely adjacent the edges of the first panel and this
second panel is easily moved into substantial abutting relation to
those of the first, maintaining the one-fourth inch spacing and the
second panel nailed in place.
The panel 30 located at the right-hand end of the roof (FIGS. 1 and
5) is identical with panel 10 except that its right edge, indicated
at 31, is straight. Similarly, the last panel 32 in the first row
of panels, shown in more detail in FIG. 4, has a left hand edge 34
which is straight. Inasmuch as all roofs are invariably of
different lengths, the panels 32 with the straight left hand edge
are usually fabricated to this special width in the shop.
As soon as the first row of panels has been laid as indicated in
FIG. 1, the second row 36 is laid in the same fashion. It will be
noted from FIG. 3 that by virtue of raising the lower end of the
shingle upwardly a distance equal to the thickness of strip 14
allows the shingle to lie flatter than it would if the strip were
not present and this assures that there are no force tending to
raise the lower end of the shingle. More important still, the
mounting strip extending the full width of every shingle in the
course holds the shingle down and prevents this lower end from
raising much more effectively than would be the case if the sole
lateral retaining force was afforded by the shingle above the
shingle in that course.
The space of about one-fourth inch between each of the shingles in
the panel allows for a nailing gun to be applied to the mounting
strip between two adjacent shingles and thus shoot a well-known
type of nail with a T-shaped head through the mounting strip and
the shingle beneath it and into the roof structure below the
shingles. A judicious number of these nails permanently secures the
panel to the roof. The reason for having each succeeding course of
shingles set inwardly to the right, as shown in FIG. 2, rather than
to the left, is solely to aid the workmen in nailing the panels to
the rows. In fact, a left-handed carpenter might find the reverse
arrangement preferred.
* * * * *