Roofing tile

An improved roofing tile with side flanges, one overlying and one underlying, providing an interlock between adjacent tiles. The flanges have two ridges and two grooves each. The inner ridge of the underlying flange is higher than the outer ridge thereof, and the outer groove of the overlying flange is deeper than the inner groove thereof. Optionally a cutout is provided on the overlying flange permitting a tile to be held with a hurricane clip on the underlying flange. Optionally a cavity is provided on the bottom face toward the lower edge to prevent a tile coming in contact with nails driven through tiles in a lower course.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to an improvement in roofing tile, and more 
particularly to a flat shingle style roofing tile having improved ease of 
packaging, improved versatility in choice of installation methods, and 
improved roof life span. 
With some previous roofing tile designs, the tile is mounted to the 
underlayment by mechanical fasteners such as copper or galvanized nails 
driven through nailholes. With other roofing tile designs, the tile is 
mounted to the underlayment by means of a mortar mix used as an adhesive. 
Still other designs require that battens, that is, long thin transverse 
wood strips, be installed on the underlayment, and the tiles are then hung 
on the battens, and optionally the tiles are secured to the battens by 
mechanical fasteners such as copper or galvanized nails driven through 
nailholes. 
After a course of tiles has been installed and secured by mechanical 
fasteners such as copper or galvanized nails driven through nailholes, 
generally another course of tiles is installed higher on the roof, with a 
region of overlap of typically 2 to 3 inches, in which a lower portion of 
the upper tile course lies on top of an upper portion of the lower tile 
course. The overlap allows the upper tile course to protect the nails and 
nailholes of the lower tile course, thus minimizing leakage of water to 
the underlayment, and minimizing corrosion of the nails. 
Because of the overlap, tiles of prior designs have sometimes given rise to 
a completed installation in which the upper tiles rest in part on the 
nails, making an uneven roof as the nails are not of uniform height and 
the tiles thus cannot lie correctly. 
In addition to the stability provided by laying the tile onto battens, or 
by the use of mechanical fasteners driven through nailholes, some 
installations require the use of so-called "hurricane clips" . These clips 
are mechanical fasteners which hook over a tile at a location lower on the 
roof than the nailholes, typically at a lower point on the left or right 
edge of the tile. The use of hurricane clips may be indicated by a steep 
roof pitch, by prevalent high winds, or by building code requirements. 
Roofing tiles are not made on site; they must be shipped from the tile 
factory to the building construction site. Thus it is desirable that the 
tiles have a shape that permits stacking and shipment on pallets or in 
wrapped stacks. Some tile designs do not stack neatly, not being 
substantially flat, and give rise to a shipping load that is unstable and 
difficult to handle. 
With a tile roof it is desirable to minimize leakage of water past the 
tiles to the underlayment. In prior tile designs, such as that of U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,432,183, flanges are provided along the left and right edges of 
the tile. To one side of the tile, the "underlock" side, a groove and 
ridge are formed during manufacture, with the groove lying between the 
ridge and the balance of the tile. The groove acts as a water channel, 
providing a path for the flow of water down the tiles and off the roof. To 
the other side of the tile, the "overlock" side, an overhanging shape is 
provided which, when viewed from below, is seen to be a groove and ridge 
with shape chosen to fit neatly into the groove and ridge on the underlock 
side of an adjacent tile. Experience shows, however, that the groove and 
ridge area at the edge of the tile is traditionally the weakest part of 
the tile. 
During installation it is preferable if the installers are able to walk on 
the parts of the roof, including any areas that have already been covered 
with tile. It is also preferable that the tile be capable of sustaining 
loads due to walking after the roof has been completely installed. 
Building code standards also impose requirements of resistance of 
breakage, e.g. in the event of breakage of a beam of the underlayment. In 
tiles of prior designs, moreover, the hurricane clip interferes with the 
groove and ridge of the overlock and underlock edges of the tile. If the 
overlock edge of a tile is in contact with the hurricane clip, then 
pressures due to walking on that tile may break it. 
Most prior tile designs for batten installation have a batten support beam 
on the underside formed so as to engage the batten and to keep the tile 
from sliding down the roof. Such tile designs, however, generally cannot 
be used for non-batten nail-on installations because the batten support 
beam typically makes the top edge of the tile thicker than the bottom, 
resulting in a tile that cannot lie flat. Furthermore, such tile designs 
similarly cannot generally be used for mortar installations for the same 
reason. 
The batten support beam in most prior batten-type tile designs renders the 
tile unusable for direct-deck installations for a second reason. The 
batten support beam, if in direct contact with the underlayment, gives 
rise to damming, resulting in water accumulation on the underlayment. 
Furthermore, the water passing on either side of the batten support beam 
may reach locations where nails have pierced the underlayment. 
Most prior tile designs for nail-on mortar installations cannot generally 
be used for batten-type installations because the beam which would engage 
with the batten is missing. 
It is an object of the invention to provide a flat shingle style concrete 
roofing tile. It is a further object of the invention to provide a tile of 
standard size, shaped so as to lay flat for easier packaging, and so as to 
permit installation using any of a number of installation means. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
These and other objects of the invention as will become apparent, are 
accomplished by providing a flat concrete roofing tile with features 
described herein. 
The tile of the invention is substantially rectangular, with a "top" 
surface facing skyward when installed; a "bottom" surface facing the 
underlayment; an "upper" edge disposed toward the roof peak; a "lower" 
edge opposite the upper edge, said lower edge disposed away from the roof 
peak; and left and right edges. One of the left and right edges is shaped 
to form an overlock flange, while the other is shaped to form an underlock 
flange. The flanges differ from flanges in prior tile designs, in that 
each flange comprises two ridges and two grooves. As in prior designs, the 
flanges assist in aligning adjacent tiles, and promote drainage of water 
along the flange rather than to the underlayment. The outside groove on 
the overlock side is deeper than the inside groove. 
In prior tile designs employing interlocking flanges with two grooves and 
two ridges, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 491,625 to Wutke, and U.S. Pat No. 
1,427,968 to Pedersen, the ridges are typically of the same height, and 
the grooves are typically of the same depth. 
The invention also allows use of hurricane clips which, in prior tiles, 
would have interfered with the proper mating of the underlock and overlock 
edges. In the invention, near the lower end of the overlock edge of the 
tile, a cutout section has been provided at the inside groove and inside 
ridge. As a result, a tile may be secured by the hurricane clip, which 
grips the tile on the outer ridge of the underlock edge, and a second tile 
may be laid to cover the underlock edge, and yet the second tile need not 
come in direct contact with the hurricane clip, because of the cutout in 
the overlock area of the second tile. 
The underside or bottom of the tile is designed to meet several 
requirements. The top and bottom edges are the same thickness, which 
allows the tile to lay flat, course over course, in non-batten 
installations. The top edge incorporates a batten support beam to engage a 
batten as described above. Optionally, two batten rests are provided below 
the batten support beam, so as to promote stability of the tile as it 
rests on the batten. Without the provision of the two batten rests, 
variations in tile construction and batten shape could give an individual 
tile that would tend to rock or wobble on the batten. As mentioned above, 
a lower edge is provided having the same thickness as the top edge, so 
that in a batten installation the tile may lie flat upon the next lower 
course of tile. The batten beam is shaped with a taper, typically 5 
degrees, so that if the tile is used in a non-batten installation, the 
contact between tile and underlayment is not merely along a line but 
rather over an area of some width. 
In the tile of the invention, the batten support beam has a weep hole. The 
weep hole permits water to drain off the underlayment to the area of the 
tile below, which is also equipped with a weep hole, and so on until the 
water has drained from the eaves. The path followed by the water avoids 
nail holes. The weep holes also promote air circulation, which tends to 
keep the underlayment dry. This permits a single tile design to be used 
for both batten and non-batten installations. 
On the bottom surface, just above the lower edge, a cavity is provided so 
that the tile will not rest on nailheads from the tile course below, but 
will rest on the tile course itself. 
The tile of the invention may be secured by mortar or by nails, and may be 
installed with or without battens.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
As shown in FIG. 1 with reference to FIG. 3, there is provided in 
accordance with the invention a flat, shingle style concrete roofing tile 
1 adapted to be laid over a roofing underlayment in a series of courses. 
On the top or skyward surface of the tile, shown in FIG. 1, are nailholes 
2 and underlap flange 3. Underlap flange 3 is composed of inner groove 4, 
inner ridge 5, outer groove 6, and outer ridge 7. Inner ridge 5 is higher 
and thicker than outer ridge 7. FIG. 2 shows the bottom surface of the 
tile, which faces the underlayment when installation is complete. 
Nailholes 2 may be seen as in FIG. 1, flanked by batten rests 8. Above 
nailholes 2 is batten support beam 17 extending nearly from one side edge 
to the other edge. Cavity 9 is provided to prevent the tile from coming in 
contact with any nailheads in the tile course below. To the left side in 
the illustration is the overlock flange 11, composed of inner groove 12, 
inner ridge 13, outer groove 14, and outer ridge 15. Near the lower edge 
of the tile, inner groove 12 and inner ridge 13 are cut out to form cutout 
section 10, which is provided to permit installation of a hurricane clip 
on an adjacent tile. 
FIG. 3 is an end view of the tile on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, showing 
underlock flange 3, inner and outer grooves 4 and 6, respectively, and 
inner and outer ridges 5 and 7, respectively. It may be seen that ridge 5 
is higher and thicker than ridge 7. Overlock flange 11 is shown, with 
inner groove 12, inner ridge 13, outer groove 14, and outer ridge 15. It 
may be seen that outer groove 14 is deeper than inner groove 12. 
FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of the tile along the lines 4--4 of FIG. 1. In 
addition to the underlock and overlock flanges 3 and 11, respectively, the 
batten rests 8 and batten support beam 17 are shown. Weep hole 16 is 
provided to allow runoff of any water that may accumulate between the 
batten support beam 17 and the underlayment. 
FIG. 5 is a cross-section of the tile along the lines 5--5 of FIG. 1, 
showing underlock and overlock flanges 3 and 11, respectively. 
FIG. 6 is a side view of the tile along the lines 6--6 of FIG. 1, showing 
batten support beam 17, batten rest 8, and bottom edge 18; bottom edge 18 
is of substantially the same thickness as the top edge including batten 
support beam 17. 
FIG. 7 is a cross-section of the tile along the lines 7--7 of FIG. 1, 
showing batten support beam 17, batten rest 8, nailhole 2, bottom edge 18, 
and cavity 9. 
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of two tiles 1 and 1' in a transverse course, 
showing the manner in which underlock flange 3' of tile 1' interlocks with 
overlock flange 11 of tile 1. 
FIG. 9 shows a side cross-sectional view of a part of a roof using the 
batten system of installation. The well-known underlayment 19 is shown 
composed of roof deck materials covered with a weather resistant covering. 
Battens 20, 20' and 20" and a 2-inch by 2-inch fascia support 22 are 
mechanically fastened to the roof by well-known methods. Tile 1" was laid 
first, followed by tile 1 which was in turn followed by tile 1'. In this 
embodiment of the invention, each course of tile is offset from the course 
below, so that while the edges of tiles 1" and 1' are shown, tile 1 
appears in cross section as indicated by the shading. Each tile rests on a 
batten, said tile held from slipping down the roof by one of batten 
support beams 17, 17', and 17"', and is further secured by one of nails 
21, 21', and 21" passing through nailholes 2, 2', and 2". Cavity 9 
prevents tile 1 from coming in contact with nail 21". Because the lower 
edge is the same thickness as the upper edge, the tile lies flat. 
As may be seen from FIG. 10, the tile of the invention may be used in a 
mortar-style installation. The well-known underlayment 19 is shown 
composed of roof deck materials covered with a weather resistant covering. 
Optional battens 20 and 2-inch by 2-inch fascia support 22 are 
mechanically fastened to the roof by well-known methods. Prior to laying a 
particular tile 1, mortar 23 is troweled on the underlayment. Tile 1 is 
pressed into place to allow mortar to adhere to the underside of the tile. 
Because the lower edge is the same thickness as the upper edge, the tile 
lies flat. 
As shown in FIG. 11, two tiles 1 and 1' are engaged by underlock flange 3' 
and overlock 11. First, tile 1' was installed onto the underlayment, then 
hurricane clip 23 is mechanically fastened to the roof by well-known 
means. Hurricane clip 23 has contact with flange 3' at ridge 7' or groove 
6' or both. 
If tile 1 were not equipped with cutout section 10, tile 1 would come in 
contact with hurricane clip 23 by at least one of inner groove 12 and 
inner ridge 13. FIG. 12 shows a hurricane clip 23 of a different style 
than the clip of FIG. 11, other features of the installation being 
designated identically to those shown in FIG. 10.