Alignment and spacer apparatus and siding panel installation...

Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Lapped multiplanar surfacing; e.g. – shingle type – With fastener or anchor

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C052S543000, C052S546000, C052S748110, C052S749100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06223492

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a siding panel installation system and an alignment and spacer apparatus used for installing siding panels onto a support structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many different types of building materials are available for constructing building structures such as houses. When selecting building materials for the support walls, a builder chooses these materials based upon cost, durability and aesthetics. The types of building materials considered for support walls include brick, wood, clapboard, stucco and siding panels. Two popular types of siding panels are aluminum siding panels and vinyl siding panels.
In an effort to decrease construction cost, a variety of systems have been used to simplify installation of siding panels. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,932 to Grigas et al, elongated metal strips are used for applying metallic siding panels to a building structure without the use of nails or other fasteners penetrating the siding panels. Thus, no holes are formed into the siding panels. Each of the elongated metal strips has a central box portion with side flanges containing holes. The metal strips are fastened with nails or screws along the flanges to the support wall. The strips also have vertically spaced clips for engaging the upper and lower edges of the siding panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,420 to Ducker illustrates a metal mounting strip for mounting siding panels. The metal mounting strip includes a plurality of equally-spaced anchor tabs having oppositely directed tongues that receive respective edges of two siding panels. The siding panels are simply and easily mounted to and disassembled from the metal mounting strips without forming holes into the siding panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,349 to Aguilar, Jr. teaches a sheet material attaching device for securing siding panels to a building. The attaching device is a longitudinal strip constructed from bendable sheet metal or plastic with support tabs which are integrally stamped-out segments of the strip. Preformed slots in the siding panel are engaged with the bendable support tabs which are then bent to secure the siding panel to the sheet material attaching device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,958 to Chalmers et al. discloses a horizontal siding panel system with vertical stringers for holding top margins of the siding panels. The vertical stringers have vertically spaced resilient clips that cooperate with the panel top margin to provide a double locking arrangement. Each stringer is an elongated metal strip having longitudinally stiffening ribs formed along both side edges and a flat central web punched at intervals along its length to provide holes for nails or screws which secure the stringer to the wall.
There is a need in the siding panel installation industry to provide a rapid yet accurate system for installing siding panels onto a support structure. It would be beneficial of this system could be simple and afford an installer a capability of sliding the siding panels horizontally for horizontal alignment under reduced friction before fastening the siding panel. The present invention satisfies this need and provides these benefits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a siding panel installation system including a plurality of alignment and spacer apparatuses that simplifies installation of siding panels onto a support structure.
It is another object of the invention to provide a siding panel installation system including a plurality of alignment and spacer apparatuses that provides more rapid installation and more accurate alignment of siding panels onto a support structure.
Yet another object of the invention to provide a siding panel installation system including a plurality of alignment and spacer apparatuses that enables an installer to slide the siding panels horizontally at a reduced amount of friction compared to conventional methods of siding panel installation.
Accordingly, an alignment and spacer apparatus of the invention is hereinafter described. The alignment and spacer apparatus of the invention includes an elongated body member that extends longitudinally along and laterally from a longitudinal axis. The elongated body member has an arcuate surface and a flat surface facing opposite the arcuate surface. The arcuate surface curves about the longitudinal axis and has a longitudinally extending crown. Further, the body member includes at least one stop tab that projects from the arcuate surface to define a stop tab surface. The stop tab surface extends laterally and perpendicularly relative to the longitudinal axis and at least a portion of the stop tab surface protrudes above the crown.
Another embodiment of the invention is an a siding panel installation system that is used for installing siding panels onto a support structure with each siding panel having a linear top edge. The siding panel installation system includes a plurality of the elongated body members described above. Additionally, each body member includes a sequence of stop tabs that are spaced equidistantly apart from one another and project from the arcuate surface. The plurality of body members are disposed apart from one another in a parallel relationship and are arranged to form a series of rows of stop tabs. Each series includes one stop tab from each body member and these stop tabs are linearly aligned with each other. Each body member is connected to the support structure in a facially opposing relationship with the flat surfaces. When each one of the siding panels is disposed crosswise relative to the plurality of connected body members and in contact with the respective crowns, the linear top edge of respective ones of the siding panels is urged to abut the stop tab surfaces in a respective row. Thus, the siding panel installation system assures horizontal alignment of each siding panel before connecting each siding panel to the support structure and provides a spacer between each connected siding panel and the support structure.


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