Untitled record

Application filed March. 8, 1922. Serial No. 541,892.

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, George Ritter, a citizen of the United States, residing at Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, and State of 5 New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roof Coverings, whereof the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to roof coverings and more particularly to shingles of the character which are fabricated from sheet material of a fibrous nature, treated with, bituminous material to impart weather re15 sistant qualities thereto, and to render them flexible and non-porous.

An object of the invention is to provide shingles of the character above set forth embodying a new and novel means for lock20 ing or engaging the exposed corners of the overlying shingles with the adjacent edges of those underlying so as to compel the shingles to lay flat and tight against , the roof, preventing to a great extent the en25 trance of moisture or accumulation of snow thereunder. These and other objects are accomplished by what I now believe to be the several most preferred embodiments of my invention and all of which I have illus30 trated in the drawings forming part of this application, in which:

Fig. I is a view in plan of a fragment of a roof covering consisting of overlaid shingles embodying my improvements.

Fig. II is a view in perspective of the improved shingle per se, viewing the same from the underside.

Fig. Ill is a view in plan, of a metallic locking member to be used in connection ⁴⁰ with the shingle.

Fig. IV is a view in plan of a strip of locking members in integral formation.

Fig. V is a view in plan of an assemblage of locking members secured in proper rela⁴⁵ tive positions showing the shingles in dotted lines.

Fig. VI is a view in plan of an assemblage of shingles, illustrating the use of a slightly modified form of locking member.

⁶⁰ Fig. VII is a view in plan of the modified locking device' drawn on an enlarged scale.

Fig. VIII is a view in plan of a series of shingles illustrating the manner in which they may be readily laid through the me dium of my improved locking devices, when 55 the latter are fabricated and used in the form of a strip.

Fig. IX is a detail, fragmentary view of the folded end of a shingle illustrating a modified form of the invention in which the 60 locking member is permanently fixed to the shingle; and

Fig. X is a view in section taken on the line X—X of Fig. IX.

With reference to Figs. I, II and III, of 65 the drawings, 10 indicates a shingle, substantially square in outline and composed preferably of fibrous sheet material such as paper, felt, etc., treated with bituminous substances and having its exposed surface 70 coated with crushed slate, or the like, to impart wear resistant qualities thereto. One corner of the shingle is folded over to form a tab 11 which is designed to lay flat against the underside of the_ shingle and to create a 75 thickened edge 12 along the fold or crease of the tab, said creased edge constituting the exposed end of the shingle and by reason of the thickness of the edge supplying a so called “shadow line” to a roof covered with 80 these shingles, thereby relieving the same of the monotonous flat appearance usually associated with a shingle roof. A locking device is provided for each shingle consisting of a plate 13 of rigid sheet material, 85 preferably metal suitably coated, plated or varnished to prevent corrosion. The plate is deformed by stamping or otherwise to expand the middle portion beyond the plane of the ends along two lines disposed at rela- 90 tive right angles to form a center or main portion 14 of triangular formation bounded by the two walls 15_? equal in height to the thickness of the shingle, and the two triangular corners or ends 16 constituting in- 95 terlocking means to engage the edges of adjacent shingles. The main or center portion 14 of the device is slipped under the tab 11 or folded corner of the shingle as shown in Fig. II and held loosely therein, seating the 100 tab between and within the Avails 15 and the base edge 17 of the locking device against the inner fold of· the tab, so as to dispose the ends 16 of the device in spaced relation to the underside of the shingle, and 105 placing the outer faces of the said corners 16 and the outer face of the tab 11 in substantially the same plane. Attention is directed

1,483,048 to the fact that the edges of the locking member are all enclosed within the outline or edges of the shingle and do not project therebeyond. The shingles. are laid in courses parallel to the eaves of the roof, in relative diagonal relation as shown in Fig. I, and the succeeding courses are laid thereover partly overlapping each other, the shingles of one course being staggered relative to those of the next, producing a honeycomb design.and enabling the adjacent edges of a pair of adjacent shingles of a course to be received within the spaces between the corners 16 and the underside of an overlapping shingle of the next course, thus causing the folded or exposed corner of each shingle to lay flat and tight, and prevent the edges of the shingles from curling up under wind pressure or as a result of frequent expansion and contraction due to temperature changes. The corners 16 of the locking member are thus engaged beneath and against the underside of the said pair of adjacent underlying shingles. The fastening elements 19 are driven at the middle corners of the shingles, penetrating the shingles also therebeneath. For convenience in manufacturing or using the above described locking devices they may be fabricated in an integral manner in the form of a strip 20, shown in Fig. Il⁷, scored or otherwise treated along the uniformly spaced, transverse lines 21 to define the locking members which are ultimately separated by breaking them from the strip along said lines 21.

I have illustrated in Fig. V of the drawings, the relative arrangement of the locking devices after the shingles are properly assembled, the relation being made particularly clear by showing the shingle in dotted lines.

Figs. VI and VII illustrate a slightly modified form of metallic locking member which is differentiated over the first form only to the extent of changing the form of the end portions to a rectangle as shown more clearly at 23 in Fig. VII. The formation constitutes an enlargement of the end portions to afford a better grip upon and to extend beneath the corners of the edges of the shingles against which they are engaged when assembled as shown in Fig. VI. It will be noted that the outer edges of the end portions 23 follow the outline of the shingle. If desired, fastening elements 24 .may be driven through the corners of the shingles in the positions'occupied by the fasteners 19 of Fig. I, penetrating the ends of the locking members therebeneath and then entering, the underlying shingles, and the roof sheathing. This is only suggested as an additional means to safeguard the. shingles from dislodgment and may not be employed if not desired as the fastening means penetrating the corners of the shingle only, and not the locking plate will be sufficient under ordinary circumstances.

The locking arrangement described above, especially when the locking element is fabri- ⁷⁰cated in the form of a strip, lends itself especially well to the rapid laying of shingles without the necessity of previously placing guides, chalk lines or the like. This feature is shown in Fig. VIII wherein 25 indicates ⁷⁰a metallic strip which is expanded at intervals to form the offset portions 26 corresponding to the portions 14 of the first described form of locking element and defining the angularly disposed walls 27 corre- 80 spending to the walls 15. The portions 26 are spaced between centers to a distance corresponding to the diagonal width of the shingle. In edge view, the strip is undulating, defining alternately placed, relatively 85 long offsets and alternate relatively short offsets. Before laying the first course of shingles, a strip 25 is laid on the roof parallel to the eaves with the short offsets 26 extending upward. The shingles are now ⁰⁰placed over the strip, corner to corner, with the lower edges resting snugly against the walls 27 of the offsets, the latter constituting stops to properly locate the shingles and to align them into a straight course. A »⁰second strip 25 is now laid parallel to the first strip but lapping over the upper corners of the shingles. The strip may now be secured in place by driving nails 28 into the material at points midway of the offsets 26, 100 and the shingles may likewise be secured in place by inserting nails at their middle corners. The next course of shingles is now laid by inserting the folded corner 11 of each sningle beneath an offset 26 of the first 105 strip 25 then fitting the edges between adjacent offsets 26 of the second strip 25, and finally driving nails into the middle corners. The shingles of the second course are thus centralized relatively in two ways, viz: by HO the insertion of the folded corners in the offsets of the lower strip and by the localization of the shingle between the offsets of the upper strip. The use of shingle guides are thus eliminated. It will also be noted that H⁰each shingle is individually held against movement in any direction, since the interlocking action of the folded corner prevents the shingle from moving toward the ridge, and the walls of adj acent offsets prevent the 120 shingle from moving toward the eaves, or laterally. Obviously, shingles laid in this manner afford as stable an aggregate of units as it is possible to effect, except by an integral uniting of the elements. 125

In actual practice the shingles, shown in both the preferred and modified forms may be shipped or transported, as from manufacturer to consumer, or by the consumer from a place of storage to the site of build- 130

1,483,040 ing operations independently of the metallic locking members, the latter being transported separately and the* shingles and locking members later assembled by the artisan. This ^r> possibility of separate handling renders the present invention extremely valuable by expediting building construction and ensuring economy in the cost of transportation, as well as inducing other advantages which io will be readily apparent to those familiar with this art. However, it may be desirable at times to include the metallic locking member as a permanent part of the shingle and the two manufactured in that manner. This h'> may be accomplished by securing the locking member to the tab as shown in Figs. IX and X in which a U-shaped staple 29 is provided and its terminals driven through the inner face of the tab and through the center portion of the locking member, and then clinched on the outer face of the tab by bending the terminals of the staple toward each other.

It will be apparent that by slight modi25 fication the various locking members described above may be adapted for use in connection with rectangular shingles by folding under the exposed ends and slipping within the fqlds a metallic locking mem30 ber designed especially to coact with the edges of adjacent shingles in interlocking relation.