Untitled record

Application filed January 15, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, William.H. H. Childs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of 5 New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt and Gravel Roofs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanving· drawings. ^{J &} io My invention relates to improvements in the construction of felt and gravel roofs.

The object of my invention is to produce a roof which will be more easily and quickly laid and at the same time be more uniform and 15 perfect in its construction; and to this end my invention consists in using as the foundation of the gravel roof a manufactured material, consisting of two, three, or more plies of felt or other fabric saturated with coal-tar, pitch, 20 asphaltum, or other water-proof material, the plies of felt or other material thus coated and saturated being joined together by layers of coal - tar, pitch, or bituminous compounds placed between them in the process of manu25 factoring the same.

My invention consists, further, in certain details of construction, which will be more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of 30 a two-ply felt. Fig. 2 is a similar view of a three-ply felt. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a three-ply felt with a layer of gravel thereon. Fig. 4 is a top or plan view of one form of laying my improved roof. Fig. 5 is a top and 35 edge view of another form. Fig. 6 is a side view and also a top view of a nail of peculiar construction used for securing the plies of felt to the boards of the roof.

In the construction of felt and gravel roofs, 40 it has heretofore been the practice to lay single layers of felt or tarred paper on the sheathing-boards of the roof shingle - fashion, one layer at a time, and as each layer was laid to mop it between the overlapping edges with 45 Uot pitch; then another layer of felt or tarred paper applied in the manner above described, and so on until the desired number of layers of felt have been laid. It is a difficult matter to lay a perfect roof in this manner, unless it 50 is done by skillful workmen having perfect appliances and under favorable conditions of weather. If the weather is cold, the coal-tar, pitch, or other bitumen used in cementing the edges of the felt together is apt to set or become hard, and thus the layers are imper- 55 fectly joined. If the weather is hot, the bitumen is apt to run toward the eaves of the roof, and thus be unequally distributed, rendering the bond between the overlapping layers of felt imperfect. Should high winds prevail, 60 much difficulty is experienced in handling these single sheets of felt or paper, and it is almost impossible to get them laid in their proper position without being torn or destroyed by the wind. ₆₅

To overcome these obstacles and provide a means for laying a good roof under any and all circumstances is the object of my present invention, which I will now proceed to describe.

In the drawings, A designates atwo-plv, and ' B a three-ply fabric composed of layers of paper or felt, a, saturated.with coal-tar, pitch, or bitumen, and joined together by layers of coaltar, pitch, or any suitable bituminous cement, 75 δ. Any ofthe two or three ply felt manufactured under the patents granted A. Robinson, with proper machinery and under favorable circumstances, will be found to produce good results when laid according to my invention. 80

In the covering of a roof I use as many layers • of the two or three ply fabric as may be desirable. For example, two layers of the twoply fabric laid upon the roof makes a foundation of four plies of water-proof fabric with 85 twolayers of bitumen, coal-tar, or coal-tar pitch over the entire surface of the roof. Two layers of the three-ply felt will make a foundation of six plies of fabric and four layers of the bitumen, as shown at x, Fig. 3. A layer of 90 the three-ply and a layer of the two-ply will make a foundation of five plies with three layers of the bituminous cement, as shown at y in Fig. 3.

I have shown in the lower part of Fig. 5 a 95 sectional view of a roof in which two layers of two-ply felt are used. /

C are the roof-boards, on which is placed a layer or sheathing of untarredpaper, D, which will prevent the foundation felt or fabric from ίόό adhering to the roof-boards, so that any shrinking or swelling of the roof-boards will not ipο

291,5^9 j tire or cause cracks iu the roof. On top of the ' sheathing D is laid one, two, or more layers of the two or three ply felt.

My preferred manner of laying is shown in^ 5 Fig. 1, in which the manufactured felt is laid from eaves to ridge and lapped two inches at the edges. The laps are fastened by nails and disks—such as are shown in Fig. 6—or by nailing over the lap a strip of wood one inch wide io and one-fourth (1) inch thick, as shown at c c.

The lap is then covered with hot pitch or composition, and upon and embedded in this, while it is still hot, is a cap of felt, E, from four to five inches wide. Over the founda15 tion thus laid is spread a heavy layer of coaltar, pitch, or other suitable bituminous matter, in which is embedded a thick layer of clean gravel.

Iu the upper portion of Fig. 5 I have shown 20 another method oflayingthe foundation where two thicknesses of felt are used. In this case thelayers of felt are laid from eaves to ridge, the upper layer being laid to break joints with the lower layer, both layers being secured in 25 position and covered with coal-tar or pitch and gravel, as hereinbefore'stated.