Two rigid surfaces are joined by a hinge to form a cover for a building ridge vent formed at the apex of a pitched roof. The hinge lies along the building ridge vent with the two rigid surfaces extending down each side of the pitched roof. The rigid surfaces of the cover affixed to the roof using standard roofing fasteners provide a rigid stable mounting surface for heavy loose laid roofing shingles.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     Applicant claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60/692,614 filed on Jun. 22, 2005 for a Hinged Roof Ridge Vent Cover and incorporates the entire disclosure thereof herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The invention relates generally to roofing surfaces. More particularly, the invention relates to ridge vent covers.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     The oil embargo in the early 1970's drove builders to make their buildings more energy efficient. To reduce energy consumption, builders began insulating their buildings more thoroughly. Modem buildings are well insulated thereby containing heat more effectively and requiring less energy to maintain an internal temperature.  
         [0006]     The hottest air in thoroughly insulated buildings rises and is trapped in the highest points in the buildings, such as the attic. This trapped heat presents a couple of challenges to builders and roofers. First, the trapped heat causes water to condense on the underside of the roof substructure. The condensation deteriorates the underside of the roof causing structural problems. Second, the trapped heat causes snow and ice to melt on the upper most portions of the roof. The water from the melted snow and ice runs down the roof to the eaves. If the outside air temperature is cold enough, the water runoff refreezes at the eaves causing an ice dam. Subsequent water runoff blocked by the ice dam backs up and refreezes causing damage to the roof.  
         [0007]     To ameliorate problems caused by trapped heat, roofers commonly do not place shingles over the top two inches of a building ridge, leaving an uncovered area. The uncovered area, known as a ridge vent, allows heat to escape. A semi-rigid covering is applied over the ridge vent to keep water from entering. A variety of semi-rigid coverings are available under trade names such as Cora Vent, Cobra Vent, Roll Vent or ProfileVent. These products which are flexible prevent water from entering while allowing hot air to escape.  
         [0008]     Roofers, however, have encountered two significant problems when mounting shingles directly to flexible ventilation material. First, the shingles have a tendency to “blow off” during high wind conditions. Second, the flexible ventilation material cannot support the weight of heavier shingles, such as slate, for example. Heavier shingles will cause the semi-rigid ventilation covers to sag and fall off. Applicant's invention, a solid ridge vent cover, does not have any of these problems, besides bringing a degree of sturdiness to ridge vent covers not possible before.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     The ridge vent cover of the present invention has two rigid elongated surfaces joined by a hinge. The hinge allows the ridge vent to be easily adjusted to the pitch of the roof. Multiple unhinged elongated surfaces, of at least two different lengths are hinged together so the left and right elongated surfaces overlap, along the entire open ridge of the roof. The hinge joining the elongated surfaces allows the rigid surfaces to rest on either side of a laid roof, along the entire open ridge of the roof, regardless of pitch. The rigid surfaces are affixed to the roof by standard roofing fasteners. The hinged solid surfaces present a stable rigid surface for mounting heavy loose laid shingle such as slate, synthetic slate and tile. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The exact nature of this invention as well as its objects and advantages will be readily understood upon consideration of the following specification along with the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals throughout the drawings indicate like parts, and wherein:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of hinged ridge vent cover of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the hinged ridge vent cover of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is an end view of a roof that has been shingled leaving a ridge vent.  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a top perspective of a roof with solid surfaces joined together in an interleaved manner by their hinges to form a complete ridge cover.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a top perspective of a roof having a porous membrane applied over the ridge cover of  FIG. 4 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a top perspective of a roof having shingles laid over the porous membrane on the ridge cover of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]     The hinged ridge vent cover  1  of the present invention has a rigid elongated left surface  2  and a rigid elongated right surface  4  joined by a hinge  6 . The rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  are preferably made of plywood approximately four feet long, seven inches wide, and five eighths inches thick. Other material of comparable rigidity, strength and size are also contemplated.  
         [0018]     The hinge  6  is slightly less than four feet long; and is preferably made of aluminum. The hinge  6  has an outer receiving member  8  and an inner rotating member  10 . The members  8 ,  10  rotate relative to one another along the radial axis. The members  8 ,  10  are connected together by inserting member  10  into member  8  at an end and sliding it along the longitudinal axis, allowing the right surface  2  and left surface  4  to be translated relative to one another.  
         [0019]     As more clearly seen in  FIG. 2 , hinging members  8 ,  10  each have hinge plates  12 ,  13  respectively, with ridges  14  that lie adjacent to and contact the right and left rigid surfaces  2 ,  4 . Each hinge plate  12 ,  13  has through holes  16  that accommodate ⅜ inch screws (not shown) for securing the hinge plates to the underside of the rigid surfaces  2 ,  4 .  
         [0020]     Copper drip edges  18 ,  19  are fitted over the lower edges of rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  respectively. The drip edges  18 ,  19  are L shaped, approximately four feet long, five eighths inches wide, with an outside surface  20  that extends approximately one and one quarter inches up the outside of the respective rigid surface covers  2 ,  4 . An inside surface  22  of the drip edge extends approximately five eighths of an inch up the underside of rigid surfaces  2 ,  4 . The copper drip edges  18 ,  19  fit snugly over the lower edges of the rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  respectively and are affixed to the surfaces  2 ,  4  with staples  24  or some other convenient fastening means.  
         [0021]     The drip edges  18  are preferably made of copper. The non-corroding characteristics of copper make copper a good choice for use with long lasting roofing material such as slate. The drip edge may be composed of any other water impermeable material with similar characteristics.  
         [0022]     The rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  provide support for slate or other heavy, loose laid roofing material. The plywood construction of the rigid surface provides a solid mounting surface that accommodates standard roofing fasteners such as nails and screws, for example The rigid surfaces  2 ,  4 , may be made from any other wood or plastic rigid material. A variety of hardwoods, softwoods, composite woods, metals and plastics is contemplated.  
         [0023]     The hinge  6  is preferably made of aluminum and is constructed to slideably engage. Other similar non-corrosive metals such as copper or iron, or plastic are also contemplated. The use of a soft lightweight material, such as aluminum, allows a roofer to easily cut the hinge  6  and rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  using standard roofing tools.  
         [0024]     The use of a slideably engagable hinge  6  has several advantages. It allows a roofer to separate the left surface  4  from the right surface  2 , and translate the left surface  4  relative to the right surface  2 , and interleave the left and right surfaces as will be described in more detail hereinafter. Other kinds of hinges like slideable hinges, or bending surfaces, such as pinned hinges, ball and socket hinges, flexible metal connecting surfaces, inter-locking flexible joints and connecting fabric, may also be used, but without the distinct advantage of the preferred embodiment.  
         [0025]     The dimensions of the rigid surfaces  2 ,  4 , the hinge  6 , the drip edges  18  and the screws  16 ,  26  are exemplary. The preferred dimensions work well with ridge vents on slate shingle roofs. The four foot length of the rigid surface is manageable, while the seven inch width adequately covers the ridge vent. For heavy shingles other than slate, rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  having four foot lengths and six inch widths are preferred.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  shows a pitched roof shingled and vented. Rows of shingles  28  have been applied leaving a narrow vent strip  30  at the roof ridge peak. On the right side, the last course of shingles  28  has been applied leaving a few inches of the roof exposed forming the right side of the narrow vent strip  30 . On the left side, a nail strip  32  has been added to accommodate a final short course of shingles  28 . A few inches of the roof remain exposed on the left side forming the left side of the narrow vent strip  30 . A flexible venting material  34  (described above) allows heat to escape while preventing water from entering.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  shows the hinged ridge vent cover I applied to the roof ridge shown in  FIG. 3 . The left rigid surfaces  4  and right rigid surfaces  2  are staggered relative to one another forming an inverted V shaped structure with the hinges  6  at the peak. To lay the staggered rigid surfaces  4 ,  2 , sixteen inches of a starting rigid surface  36  is removed. Subsequent left and right rigid surfaces are laid end to end with the left surfaces shifted into the space provided by the removed portion of the first rigid surface  36 . The rotating member  10  of the hinge  6  attached to the left rigid surface  4  slides into the receiving member  8  of the hinge  6  attached to the first right rigid surface  38 . At the end of the ridge line, any excess from the final rigid surface is cut off. Four or more three inch screws  26  are screwed through each one of the left and right rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  into the shingles  28  and the roof nail strip. Drip edges  18  are fitted over the lower edges of the left and right rigid surfaces  4 ,  2  and fastened with a staple gun.  
         [0028]     The series of staggered interlocking hinged rigid surfaces provide a ridge vent structure across the entire ridge line. The screws  26  secure the ridge vent cover to the roof preventing uplift and blow off. The left and right rigid surfaces  2 ,  4  provide convenient and sturdy mounting surfaces for heavy tile, like slate for example.  
         [0029]     In the illustrated embodiment the rigid surfaces are staggered by sixteen inches. Different stagger lengths could be used. The screw  26  size and spacing are only exemplary, as are the drip edge size and spacing. Any suitable roofing fasteners or equivalent may be used.  
         [0030]      FIG. 5  shows a water proof membrane  39  applied over the ridge vent cover. The water proof membrane  39  extends over the drip edge. An end closure  40  may be used at the gable ends of the pitched roof to waterproof the ridge edges.  
         [0031]      FIG. 6  shows loose laid roofing shingles  28 , such as slate, applied over the water proof membrane (not shown) and fastened to the ridge vent cover. Two 1½ screws concealed by the shingle layering penetrate the shingles  28 , the water proof membrane and the hinged ridge vent cover securing the shingles to the roof.  
         [0032]     The ridge vent cover of the present invention provides a stable mounting platfrom for heavier loose laid shingles, and prevents up-lift from heavy winds.