Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Machine or implement – Roofing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-06
2003-05-13
Mai, Lanna (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Machine or implement
Roofing
C052S387000, C052S543000, C052S520000, C052S551000, C033S648000, C033S649000, C248S237000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06560945
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an roofing and the shingle attachment thereto. More particularly it relates to an device providing an uniform and more secure attachment of shingles to the hip, ridge, and barge rafter portions of shingle roofing which allows for easy in-line installation of such shingles with a user defined spacing and rise.
2. Prior Art
Modern roofing uses a layering system wherein a base of roofing felt is mounted upon a wood roof and then covered by layers of shingles. Shingles mounted in such a manner generally overlap each other with the bottom portion of each shingle mounted to cover the top portion of the next shingle below. This provides a system whereby water running down a roof continuously falls to the upper surface of the next shingle down below its attachment point of that shingle to the roofing felt and underlying roof structure. Since water continuously seeks its own level due to gravity, the water running down a roof never encounters the attache point of the shingle to the roof.
Most residential roofs are constructed with peaks to provide a slant which encourages this downward flow of water. Included in this construction to allow for both aesthetic and construction purposes, are ridges and hips where roofing surfaces on different planes intersect. Covering these intersections of planes of shingles at the hip and ridge effectively is imperative to achieving a water tight element resistant roof structure.
This is because the installation of shingles on a roof is conventionally done from the lowest point on the roof plane being covert to the highest point. Starting at the bottom of the roof plane the installer places rows of shingles. Each successive row of shingles installed covers the top of the prior row in the plane with the bottom portion of the next row higher. This as noted before insures an easy downward path for water whereby the water never encounters the attachment point of the shingle since they are all successively covered by the shingle above.
However, at the top of each plane of a conventional inclined roof, there is an intersection with the other plane or planes of the roof being covered. Such intersections at the peak height of the roof are the conventionally known as the ridge. Intersections of planes of shingles of differing angles at lower points on the roof are known as a hip. These hip and ridge intersections, being at the highest point on each plane of installed shingles, form an intersection point where a gap forms between the two or more intersecting planes of shingles.
To insure that the roof being covered attains a water tight seal, these intersections at the hip and ridge intersections must be adequately covered in a fashion that insures that water hitting the hip and ridge covering shingles proceeds downward on the differing planes of the roof line below. As is obvious, the shingles mounted at the hip and ridge cannot have additional rows mounted higher since they are at a peak already. Thus these shingles must overlap and cover the gap at the intersection of the planes of singles and also be securely mounted upon the hip or ridge.
Aesthetic concerns of modern roofing materials have presented an additional problem in mounting the shingles of hip, ridge and barge rafter intersections with the flat plane of the remainder of the roof. Modern shingles are laminated materials the most popular being fiberglass or asphalt laminated constructions. Such materials, while offering longevity to the roof surface, generally lack sufficient thickness to provide a visual quality of a rise above the adjacent shingle to give the desired visual depth aesthetic quality. Stated differently, the materials of asphalt fiberglass construction, are of such a thin and flat construction, they do not provide the aesthetic quality desired of many homeowners, who in the past have used wood shake or wood shingles which exhibit a stacking that appears thick from the shadows and actual thickness of such wood products.
Further, the shingles currently used to cap hip, ridge, and barge rafter intersections are of a different construction than those used upon the angled planes of the rest of the roof. This is dictated by differing purpose of hip, ridge and barge rafter singles which is to cover the gap formed between intersection planes of the adjacent area of the roof rather than to just cover the shingle below. Such a differing construction requires a different mounting technique to achieve the water proof fit and concurrently reach the aesthetic qualities required.
This differing mounting technique is much harder to master and requires a roofing worker of a higher skill level than a worker installing normal plane mounted shingles. This is because maintaining the hip and ridge mounted shingles in proper line for a water proof mount and achieving the proper line and proper rise for an aesthetically pleasing roof line, is as much an art as a trade. Thus, costs are increased to the roofing contractor due to the level of skill required on hip and ridge intersections, an jobs can become delayed due to lack of skilled help.
Additionally, because the contractor must use different configured shingles on the hip and ridge intersections on the roof planes, those shingles can come from differing dye lots from the shingles used upon the flat plane surfaces of the adjacent planes of shingle roof. Using different dye lots on colored roof is a ticket to aesthetic disaster in that homeowners are generally very particular about how the end result of a roofing job appears since most such roofs are projected to last decades. If the shingles used to cap the hip, ridge or barge rafter intersections are too different in color from the dye lot of the adjacent shingles used on the flat plane surfaces, the roof contractor may be forced to remove and reinstall shingles on the ridge and hip intersections that more closely match the shingles on the roof planes. In the often dim light of late evening and early morning construction work, differing dye lots of the shingles is a constant threat to the aesthetic success of the job at hand.
Finally, modern construction tools have given rise to the pneumatic nail gun which drives nails or staples or similar fastening devices through the shingle into the underlying surface using air pressure. Nails driven in such fashion can be literally driven right through the shingle when using thinner consistency shingles or shingles that are hot from exposure to the sun. Applicant's device as herein disclosed, provides a means for cushioning nail impact and thus prevents nail piercing of the shingle used over Applicant's device.
As such, a need is ever present for a device that would allow for easy in line installation of shingles upon the hip and ridge intersections of shingle covered roof planes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,771 (Poplin) addresses the hip and ridge issue and teaches a ridge shingle unit which is folded back upon itself to achieve a thick appearance. However Poplin still requires the use of special shingles which can differ in dye lots and requires a more skilled laborer to install.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,201 (Noone) teaches a specially adapted shingle for covering hip and ridge roof plane intersections. However Noone teaches the use of a specialized shingle for this purpose and also requires a higher skilled laborer to install. The threat of dye lot mis-match as well as increased labor and material costs are not obviated by Noone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,801 (Kupezyk) also teaches the use of a specially configured shingle for covering the intersections of roof planes at the hip and ridge. Kupezyk by design requires a special configuration dictating the use of shingles different from those on the planes adjacent to the hip and ridge. Dye lot mis match as well as increased labor costs for installation of the special shingles are thus still prevalent to Kupezyk.
As such, their exists a need for an easily and inexpensively manufactured apparatus, which can be easily attached to the hip an
Harms Donn K.
Mai Lanna
Yip Winnie
LandOfFree
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